We hosted one of the biggest hackathons at ASU with over 350+ applications, 150 participants, 50+ projects, 10+ judges and $2000 in prizes. We were backed by ASU and the Startup Community here at Arizona - from CEOs to venture capitalists we had everyone at the hackathon to judge and mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators, and people who want to be better than what they were yesterday. When I saw the crowd at the checkin my heart pounded and it felt weird under my tummy, maybe this is what they call "having butterflies in your stomach". The crowd started coming in and soon the room was full, we were out of donuts, we were out of hacker tags, we had to send a few people back home. These were problems but I guess they were good problems to have.
With Devhacks'25, we hosted our biggest event yet—One Hackathon, Infinite Opportunities—With 170+ hackers building 50+ projects we had invited judges from the Arizona Startup Community—real players of the game who built it from scratch and took exits. I've never seen this anywhere, they are a bunch of cool and supportive people who promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Arizona. Huge shoutout to Mat Sherman, who formed and leads this community with one mission: to make Arizona the next Silicon Valley. After all, who says there can only be one valley in the west!
So many teams from this hackathon left the room with mentors, interest to get funded from the investors, and a huge smile on their face—because for many of them, those 24 hours became the moment they'd one day look back on and say: "That was worth it."
We started Devlabs with nothing, we were just a group of 10 friends who thought we could start a club and do things that weren't done before. 10 of us, we were good at 10 different things but we all had the same goal and together we did it.
We've seen it all—events so packed there was barely room to stand, and others with fewer attendees than the number of people on our team, but we kept going regardless and here we are. Being the president of Devlabs, I keep learning but this is what I was always clear about - trust your team and they trust you back. My team has only grown bigger and each of them only wants Devlabs to be the next big thing. The most vital thing to do as a president is to make the team feel like what they work for belongs to them.
I'm an international student here. One of my reasons choosing ASU was because it was home to sunhacks, one of the biggest hackathons in the west. 2 years down, the hackathon we hosted, Devhacks was put up at ASU alongside sunhacks and all the other big hackathons at ASU.
Let's rewind a little bit and talk about how it all started in the first place. It was freshman year at college, my first time in the US. I was really excited to meet new people, build cool things.I loved the startup hustle, but honestly, coming to ASU was more of a let down at first. I had all these expectations in my mind about coming to college in the US, and the reality didn't quite match up.
There were a lot of tech clubs here but they were too saturated and boring. The group of friends that I hung out with also felt the same, we all shared the same interest towards learning something new and we liked to hustle. But ASU didn't have a space for people like us… so we decided to create one. That's how Devlabs started. In one of the study rooms at our dorm, 10 of us came together, put down everything we had on the table, formed a club, gave it a name, engraved a vision to it and there began our hunt to find an advisor for the club.
It was the hardest thing ever. We stopped by every CS professor's office but had no leads. Finally our saviour: Brent Sebold, the man himself —Head of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at ASU. He offered us a hand and helped us cross the river. Getting an advisor for the club was only step one. Next up? Forming our core team. We again met at the study room but this time it was to elect ourselves to form a team. We gave speeches for the positions we stood for and with a poll we had the president - tadaaa.
From there it all started, a journey with zero regrets. I've met incredible people along the way and had the chance to help so many others and every time I see someone tag me in a post about Devlabs, it fuels me to keep going—to reach more people and to keep building. We've hosted so many events, and we poured our hearts into every single one of them. Some were a huge success, others made me pause and reflect. But I never stopped. People often ask, "How do you manage all of this? Isn't it a lot of work?". I think your brain doesn't know the difference between work and pleasure if you love what you are doing.
I had my heart out for Devlabs, it was—and still is— my baby. Sometimes, it felt like I had ten hands on me. I tackled everything—from booking the venue, helping with marketing, reaching out to keynote speakers, securing sponsors to fund us, organizing event logistics—and I could go on. The first semester of the club, we were all learning and I let my team learn at their own pace. I covered up for everyone, even if it meant I had to carry the extra weight to keep things moving. But now? We've grown, we all know our game. The teams work amongst themselves, the discord server is always active with conversations, ideas, new event updates. Now that the team has grown as a club, the roles have reversed—I now step back and oversee, guiding when needed. It's still a crucial job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love what we've built—and I love where we're headed.
We keep pushing ourselves and to see what hasn't happened yet. We do everything we can because If you want to make it big, just trust the process. We'll never have enough justification for everything we do, but TRUST ME — it'll be the least expected one that gives us the big break.