At St. Joseph’s University, New York students are encouraged to pursue their passions, whether they be on or off campus. For Brooklyn-based mathematics and computer science student Sulabh Katila ‘26, that passion is computers and technology. While he had some programming knowledge going into college, it was St. Joe’s that deepened his interest in the subject. So, when he heard from a friend that New York University (NYU) was hosting a large student-organized hackathon, HackNYU, signing up was a no-brainer.
“I have always thought of computers and technology as kind of magic, and who wouldn’t want to be magician,” Katila said.
Dating back to 2017, HackNYU is a 48-hour long hackathon competition organized by NYU with the goal of curating a warm and welcoming community of innovative and talented tech students from around the globe. Past sponsors have included companies such as Google, Meta, IBM, Viacom and JPMorgan Chase & Co. This year’s event drew more than 1,200 applications with approximately 700 participants competing in teams ranging from one to four members.
Sulabh Katila (second from right) and his team placed 3rd in the Solana and Blockchain Innovation track.
Katila’s teammates were two NYU students and an exchange student from the National University of Singapore—all of whom he did not meet until the day of the event. Fortunately, that wasn’t much of a problem as they instantly clicked and got to work.
Katila described his first hackathon experience as “intensely competitive yet highly collaborative”.
Competing in a 24-hour coding phase, his team had from 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 8 to 11:30 a.m. the following day to create software that would be judged on innovation, technical complexity, its impact and the quality of the final presentation. Teams shared the same space at NYU and with the clocking ticking, there was no time for sleep.
When the dust settled, Katila’s team secured third place in the Solana and Blockchain Innovation track for SolHive, their platform that provides real-time insights into the popular blockchain platform, Solana. (For those that don’t know, a blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that that is used to record transactions across multiple computers.)
According to Katila, by analyzing key metrics such as transactions per second, transaction fees, failed transactions, NFT trading volume and minting activity, SolHive would help predict network congestion and suggest optimal transaction times on the Solana blockchain. This allows users to make more well-informed trading decisions, avoid costly mistakes and capitalize on opportunities.
Katila’s role was that of a frontend engineer, responsible for designing and implementing a seamless user interface while helping to integrate with the backend.
“We worked hard to create a technically sound and practical solution,” Katila said. “And we prioritized presenting it in a clear and compelling way.”
The judges admired how SolHive approached a real-world problem involving blockchain technology.
Katila was grateful for the hard work of his teammates, and says SJNY played a huge role in preparing him for HackNYU.
“The coursework, research opportunities and guidance from professors, along with the supportive and encouraging community, helped me build a strong technical foundation and the problem-solving skills necessary to succeed in the competition,” he said.
Katila plans to apply for next year’s event, not wanting to miss the opportunity to challenge himself again.
