josh wu | ← awards

hackathons
wins and events — 2023–2025

wins
2024
Best Hardware Hack — EurekaHACKS
EurekaHACKS
Anti-epileptic seizure glasses detecting and blocking strobing light within 155 ms using coaxial crossed polarizers and Raspberry Pi Pico. Detects 5–30 Hz strobe frequencies and auto-darkens polarized lenses before a seizure can be triggered. strobeshield →
2025
2nd Place Overall — JamHacks 9
JamHacks 9
AR-guided breadboard assistant overlaying real-time component placement instructions onto physical hardware using computer vision. Eliminates wiring mistakes for beginner electronics builders. guideline →
2025
1st Place Overall — Waterloo Engineering Hackathon
University of Waterloo
Built the loudest subwoofer box, taking first place overall at the Waterloo Engineering Hackathon.
2023
1st Place — Earth Innovation Challenge, Future of Automotives
Brilliant Catalyst
Developed OptiLux, an AI-driven adaptive traffic-light system with emergency-vehicle detection and dynamic weather-alert messaging modules.
events attended
  • Toyota Innovation Challenge (TMMC) — Competitor
  • Hack the North — Competitor
  • Hack the 6ix — Competitor
  • JamHacks — Competitor
  • EurekaHACKS — Competitor
  • StarterHacks — Competitor
  • NeoDev — Sponsor
  • Pinata Pitch Montreal — Sponsor
  • Socratica — Host
  • SPURhacks — Volunteer