Stony Brook Computer Science Student Gains Experience and Awards at Hackathons

Patrick Farrell at the annual CEWIT High School Hackathon at the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology. Photos by John Griffin.

When Patrick Farrell signed up for his first hackathon at Stony Brook University, he was still a student at Suffolk County Community College, and he didn't know anyone when he arrived to compete.

"I was nervous," he said. "I had to walk around asking people if they needed a teammate. It was a bit intimidating at first."

That hackathon, HopperHacks, ended up being a turning point for Farrell, who transferred to Stony Brook in Fall 2024 as a computer science major. Not only did he meet new people and work on a team project at HopperHacks - a chatbot that delivered real-time campus dining information - he got his first experience with Stony Brook's tech events on campus.

"It made me even more excited to transfer here," he said.

Since then, Farrell has embraced hackathons. At Stony Brook's Hack@CEWIT, he and his team participated in the Softheon-sponsored challenge of "Best Integration of Customer Segmentation Utilizing AI," developing "Clusteroo" - a tool designed to help small businesses tap into the kind of targeted marketing algorithms used by major retailers. The project won first place, and led to an unexpected opportunity.

"One of the companies sponsoring the event was SRC," he said. "I didn't realize software engineers could work in defense, but after chatting with some of their team, I was offered an internship on the spot."

Farrell spent the summer in Syracuse working in person with SRC, and continued part-time remotely through January.

In the meantime, his passion for hackathons continued to grow. So far, he's competed in events at Rutgers, NYU, Georgetown, and UMiami - collecting six wins and thousands of dollars in prizes, from gaming gear to travel reimbursements and cash.

"Hackathons are about learning, meeting new people, and building things fast. It's a great environment to grow your skills," Farrell said.

Now a junior at Stony Brook, Farrell is also giving back. He's a teaching assistant for CSE 216 (Programming Abstractions) and recently served as a mentor at the annual CEWIT High School Hackathon at the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology.

"It's great to see younger students getting into this space," he said. "They're building impressive projects, and I'm happy to help however I can."

Farrell says his Stony Brook education has played a major role in preparing him to thrive in competitive, fast-paced environments.

"I've met students from all over the country at hackathons, and I can confidently say Stony Brook prepares you really well," he said. "The classes are tough, but you're learning what you actually need to succeed out there."

- Beth Squire