Major League Hacking

Smart tech meets safer healthcare. 💊✨

Medication management is a high-stakes balancing act. Overdosing on prescriptions or forgetting a dose can have serious consequences. To solve this, Charlie Huang, Alinda Lau, Angeline Do, and Aditya Gupta built MediSpin—a smart medicine dispenser designed to automate safety and accountability.

MediSpin features a rotating 7-compartment hardware system that dispenses the right pill at the right time. But it’s more than just a container; it’s a smart assistant. The device prevents users from taking multiple doses in a single day and communicates directly with a web dashboard. If you miss a dose, you get an instant email notification to get back on track.

From preventing addiction through controlled access to helping those with memory-related illnesses, MediSpin is a perfect example of how builder culture can solve real-world health challenges.

Read more about their build here: https://devpost.com/software/medispin

What if your lips could do the talking, even if you couldn’t make a sound?

Meet Echo, an incredible project built by Yusuf Sallam, Safa Karagoz, Shahmeer Ali, and Shaurya Sarma. Their mission is simple but powerful: giving a voice to the voiceless.

Echo uses a machine learning pipeline to read lip movements and convert them into text transcriptions. But they didn’t stop there. By integrating the ElevenLabs API, the team enabled the system to clone a user’s original voice from old audio clips. This means that someone who has lost their ability to speak can “talk” again in a voice that is uniquely theirs.

From overcoming compute limitations to optimizing frame rates for real-time processing, this project is a perfect example of why we love builder culture—using cutting-edge AI to solve deeply human problems!

Read more about their build here: https://dorahacks.io/buidl/22331

Who knew studying could be this dangerous (and fun)? 🎯

Meet Bullet Brain, a brilliant hackathon project by Jaylen Cheung and Isaac Chan that turns group study sessions into an interactive game. We’ve all felt the burnout of solo studying, so this team built a way to make community learning more engaging.

The setup is wild: a motorized turret scans the room like a game of Duck Duck Goose. While it rotates, the software—powered by the Cohere API—processes PDF study notes into a series of questions. When the turret locks onto you, you have to answer a question correctly or face the “consequences” (getting shot by the turret!).

It’s a perfect example of how hardware and AI can come together to solve a common problem like study fatigue with a bit of humor and a lot of creativity.

Read more about their build here: https://devpost.com/software/bullet-brain

Can you gamify... showering?

Meet Ranked Showers, an ingenious (and hilarious) hackathon project by Alexander Gu, Ryan Chang, Inuka Silva, and Andrew Whitehead. The team wanted to tackle the “smelly dev” stereotype by creating a leaderboard system that encourages computer scientists and engineers to stay fresh.

This isn’t just a simple timer—it’s a full-stack hardware and software solution. The team used temperature, humidity, and distance sensors to monitor the environment, then took it a step further by using a Gemini model to analyze audio from AirPods to verify the user is actually showering.

To top it off, they brought the data onto the blockchain. Using MongoDB for storage and Solana for rewards, they minted custom coins to reward the “cleanest” builders and those practicing eco-friendly habits.

It’s a perfect example of how builder culture can take a fun idea and back it up with serious technical ex*****on!

Read more about their build here: https://devpost.com/software/shower-cxbfr9

Urban pollution is a massive challenge, but the solution might already be hanging over our heads.

Check out StreetSweep AI, a project built by Lukhsaan Elankumaran, Andrew Law, and Varun Gande that uses artificial intelligence to map and manage city litter in real-time.

By integrating public traffic camera feeds with the Gemini API, StreetSweep AI automatically identifies trash buildup and ranks it by severity. Combined with user-submitted images, the platform creates a “Volunteer Dashboard” that helps city planners and cleanup crews visualize exactly where help is needed most.

It’s an incredible example of how builders can take modern technology—like AI and MongoDB—and apply it to decades-old infrastructure to solve real-world problems. Projects like this are exactly why we celebrate the hacker community!

Read more about their build here: https://devpost.com/software/streetsweep-ai

Meet Tachigurasu: The desktop companion that uses “emotional manipulation” to fix your posture! 📉➡️🧍

Computer science students Jieruei Chang and Alexander Liang realized that standard phone notifications are too easy to swipe away when you’re deep in a coding session. Their solution? A 3D-printed, AI-powered “Tamagotchi” whose life depends on how you sit.

Using ML models and a built-in camera, Tachigurasu monitors your posture in real-time. If you start slouching, it gets angry. if you keep slouching, it dies. 💀 It’s a hilarious and high-stakes way to ensure you aren’t a human pretzel by the end of the day. Plus, if you stay at your desk too long, it’ll remind you to finally “touch grass.”

This is a perfect example of how hardware and AI can come together to solve the everyday problems of the developer lifestyle!

Read more about their build here: https://devpost.com/software/tachigurasu

Innovate for Impact is a two-day hackathon where university students team up with NGM Group tech experts, use Microsoft + GitHub AI tools, and build solutions for our Charitable Foundation partners.�
📍 NEX, 309 King St, Newcastle West, Australia
📅 Tuesday, May 12 + Wednesday, May 13�
What to expect:
✅ Lightning talks
✅ Mentors
✅ Build time & Demos
✅ Networking & Awards�
🏆 A “Day in the Life at Microsoft” experience for you and your team (plus Microsoft and GitHub merch).�
Spots are limited! Tag a friend, and register through the 🔗 in our Instastory or NGM’s LinkedIn post.