362 students, 80 teams, and dozens of ideas that turned into real technological solutions in less than 60 hours! Hack TUES 12 concluded successfully at the Innovation Forum "John Atanasov" at Sofia Tech Park, establishing itself as one of the most inspiring student technology events in Bulgaria.
Participants learned about the theme at the opening. The main theme was “Code to Care” – a concept aimed at creating technological solutions with real value for society. The sub-themes Beyond the City, Limitless, Zero Left, and Travel with Purpose guided the teams towards different directions – solutions outside the urban environment, technologies supporting people with mental and physical disabilities, approaches to minimizing waste and more sustainable consumption, as well as ideas for more meaningful and responsible travel.
After the announcement of the themes, the students had less than 60 hours to develop their projects. This was followed by the competitive phase with semi-finals in 8 parallel panels and a final. The teams defended their projects before a 64-member jury composed of established experts in the technology sector.
First place was won by the team “backprop & pray” – Anton Hristov, Vasil Vasilev, Georgi Pastrikov, Dimitar Anastasov, and Yasen Tsvetkov with their project “Tracky” – a low-cost platform for precision agriculture that helps farmers identify field problems and respond more informedly through autonomous data collection, analysis, and location-based guidance.
Second place was taken by the team “Double Oreo” – Kristian Kulekov, Mark Danileichenko, Kaloyan Gavrilov, and Kaloyan Anastasov, with the project “QT-Shield”. This is an AI platform for medication safety, created for people with Long QT Syndrome. It checks medications by name or photo, suggests safer alternatives, connects with Apple Watch for continuous heart monitoring, and features an automated emergency response system, as well as an AI assistant tailored to the patient's full profile.
Third place was won by the team “Burgas Gulls” – Viktor Aleksiev, Adrian Aleksov, Boris Strinsky, Georgi Iliev, and Kaloyan Yanev with the project “Root & Rot” – an automated smart composter that allows large stores and restaurants to recycle food waste, unsold or expired food products, and leftover packaging material, turning them into natural fertilizer, with a focus on corporate security and easy integration into the existing business environment.
Prof. Ivan Králov presented the special award of TU - Sofia to the team "Sector C" for the project Qlean.
Qlean helps laboratories and lab technicians turn real water quality data into specific filtration ideas. The project focuses on clean water and making complex analysis more accessible in everyday laboratory work.
Hack TUES is entirely organized by 11th-grade students at TUES, who are behind the overall concept, planning, and execution of the event. The initiative is supported by the TUES alumni community.
