More than a year before Cal Hacks 11.0 was held in October 2024, then-high school senior Christian Yun had already put the “largest collegiate hackathon in the world” on his radar. Yun, now a San José State University freshman and business major, could never have predicted he would leave the event having placed 3rd overall among approximately 1,700 hackers.

The highly competitive and rigorous hackathon attracted students from all over the United States, and internationally, to spend 36 grueling hours working on projects at the Metreon in San Francisco. Yun and his teammate, Jeremy Chen, a student at College of San Mateo, used their time to create an app that uses a digital pet to promote and gamify sustainability. SnackSnap was the end result. Users capture a photo of themselves recycling an item which is then validated with image recognition. The more a user recycles, the more snacks they earn to feed their pet and make it grow. 

Their project was originally submitted to a sub-competition sponsored by PepsiCo, but when those winners were announced and their entry was not one of them, disappointment set in. Shortly after, as they continued listening to other results, they experienced the surprise of hearing their names called when the hackathon’s top three projects were presented.

“Yeah, that was a good memory,” Yun said while smiling.

Competing was really fun for Yun, as was the environment where he was able to talk to others and treat the experience like a coworking space. Hackers typically spend most of their time working on their submissions, though he humorously shared that they indulged in the unlimited snacks provided by sponsors, and reluctantly carved out time to sleep in makeshift beds under the desk.  

“I think the best is when it’s super late, or early, and everyone is just awake,” he said. Yun added that during their mental breaks, participants walked around and talked about what they were building, their backgrounds, and what they were studying. “It’s really easy to talk to people.” 

He observed that everyone was very kind and the professionals were willing to offer constructive feedback. “It’s so cool to be surrounded by so many people that are building stuff and just have that [innovative] culture.” 

Anuradha Basu, director of the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship and professor in the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, has a keen eye when it comes to sharp and competitive students like Yun.

“It’s such a pleasure interacting with bright, talented, motivated students like Christian,” Basu said. “It makes our job as professors worthwhile.” 

From the looks of it, the motivation she sees in Yun is not slowing down. Currently, he is devoting his time and energy into launching a startup called Dial, which he recently showcased at the 21st Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge (SVIC). The app will allow users to link their goals or aspiring habits with others, so if one person fails, the entire group fails. “I’m hoping to get a good amount of users on that and hopefully grow it into something big,” he said.

The hackathon achievement and startup endeavors could just be the beginning for Yun in Basu’s estimation. 

“Based on my 21 years at SJSU, I’d say that students like Christian are rare,” Basu said. “Despite being a freshman, he is so proactive about making the most of opportunities available on campus, and beyond, as exemplified by his win at the Berkeley hackathon.”

Lucas College and Graduate School of Business faculty, staff, students and alumni consistently make a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Many graduates have gone on to excel in various industries, with a notable presence in Silicon Valley. These organizations recognize and value the exceptional education and skills our alumni bring to their roles, making San José State University a key contributor to the region’s thriving economy. We offer MBA, PMBA, MSFA, MSAA, MST and MSTM degrees at the graduate level and 14 different BSBA concentrations at the undergraduate level, the largest set of offerings among the CSUs. These include accounting, accounting information systems, business analytics, corporate accounting & finance, entrepreneurship, finance, general business, hospitality, tourism, & event management, human resources management, international business, management, management information systems, marketing, and operations & supply chain management.