February was big a month for Hackathon wins at St. Joseph’s University, New York (SJNY). In addition to one student securing victory at HackNYU, a fellow SJNY student recently conquered big-time competitions of his own. Two to be exact.
Jawad Zaman ‘27 is an international student attending SJNY’s Brooklyn Campus majoring in computer science, math and business administration. Hailing from Bangladesh, he loved participating in hackathons, only to discover an all-new challenge when arriving to the U.S.
“The hackathons here in the U.S. are on a whole new level. These are more intense with people coming from all over the world,” Zaman said.
But rather than allow the fierce competition to deter him, Zaman greeted it with fearlessness and determination. He entered the HopperHacks X competition at Stony Brook University and DevFest 2025 at Columbia University. The result: first place wins at both.
Jawad Zaman ’27 (far right) at Columbia University.
Both competitions had more than 200 teams from across the country and internationally.
Winning is about more than prizes and bragging rights. According to Zaman, participating in hackathons are helping him grow, expand his network and strengthen his resume.
“In the future, I would like to create more projects as well as develop my existing projects so that I can help people in their day-to-day life,” Zaman said.
For both competitions, Zaman submitted his project, Forager On The Go, a web-based app that enables users to upload images of wild plants, berries, insects and animals using the ResNet model to identify species and provide details on edibility, safety and cooking methods. This earned him first place in the Treasure Trove of Talent Strand at Stony Brook University’s HopperHacks X and first place in the Hot Sauce Strand at Columbia University’s DevFest 2025.
Zaman also received an honorable mention for an additional project he submitted at the Stony Brook hackathon. NeuroNudge, an AI-powered persuasion platform designed to ethically influence decision making and enhance communication, was awarded runner up its category.
Zaman credits SJNY with providing him with a collaborative environment, resources and leadership and technical skills necessary to succeed in hackathons.
“I love coding and bringing projects to life,” he said. “Being at St. Joseph’s University allowed me to engage with talented students and professors, who guide me on my CS (computer science) journey.”
Zaman is the treasurer of the St. Joseph’s Computer Club, and in February 2025, he collaborated with other eboards to host a hackathon of his own.
Zaman accepting his first place award at Stony Brook University.
