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What is LingHacks VI?
What is LingHacks VI?
LingHacks VI is the sixth iteration of the world's first computational linguistics hackathon for high schoolers. Our goal is to expose students of all backgrounds to the field of natural language processing and inspire students to pursue computer science in their careers. ​LingHacks VI is an invention competition where you come together with a team and build a software project that integrates computational linguistics and may or may not solve a scientific or social problem. LingHacks is a member of the Obama White House's CSforALL National Consortium and is the inaugural recipient of the AI4ALL Impact Grant.Â
Why computational linguistics?
Why computational linguistics?
Computational linguistics bridges the gap between simple rule-following computers and complex humans who can comprehend emotion and interpret ambiguity, which gives computers more humanistic abilities. Comp ling techniques also power tools used in biology, fintech, IT, and more. Computational linguistics intrigues people across a broad spectrum of artistic and technical interests.
What should I bring?
What should I bring?
You'll probably need some sort of laptop to build your project with. That's pretty much it, since LingHacks VI will be virtual.
What is computational linguistics?
What is computational linguistics?
Computational linguistics, otherwise known as natural language processing, is the field of artificial intelligence that applies to the synthesis and analysis of language and speech. Things like machine translation technologies, voice assistants, search engines, and chatbots are all powered by computational linguistics tools. It's a fascinating synergy of scientific techniques applied to an elegant humanity that is part and parcel of our core human identities.
What is a hackathon?
What is a hackathon?
A hackathon is an invention competition and educational experience. Check out this video by MLH for an inside look at what happens at a hackathon!
When, where, and how much?
When, where, and how much?
In light of COVID-19 concerns, LingHacks VI will be completely virtual (and free, as always) and will take place from June 14 - 15, 2025. Registration is now open at this link!
Prerequisites & rules?
Prerequisites & rules?
No experience is required! We have designed workshops and will have mentors to help you gain skills in programming, machine learning, and natural language processing. Teams can be between 1 and 3 people, and you don't need to have a team or an idea beforehand. You must be in high school in the 2024-25 or 2025-2026 school year. You are also subject to the MLH Code of Conduct.
Schedule
Schedule
All times are in United States Central Time (GMT-5).
June 14 (Saturday)
9am: Opening Ceremony & Team Formation
10am: Hacking Begins
11am - 11:59pm: Educational Workshops (subject to change)
11am: Introduction to Python Programming with Karina Halevy
12pm: Introduction to the Natural Language Toolkit with the Task of Word Sense Disambiguation with Karina Halevy
1pm: Intro to Machine Learning: Build a Spam Email Detector with Bhoomi Patel
2pm: Build a Chatbot in Under an Hour with Elnaz Toreihi
3pm: Building full stack apps using Cursor, Winsurf, Claude 4 with Harshith Vaddiparthy
4pm: Introductory PyTorch: Bring your networks to life with Rithvik Senthil
5pm: NLP Magic with Emojis with Elnaz Toreihi
6pm: Deep Learning + Speech Processing with Sarthak Bisht
8pm: Intro to Large Language Models with Karina Halevy
11pm: Models, Meaning, and Misguidance: AI Ethics in the New Age of Influence with Sarthak Dhole
June 15 (Sunday)
12pm: Project Submission Deadline
1Â -2pm: College & Career Panel
(approximately) 9pm: Prize Winner Announcement
College & Career Panelists
College & Career Panelists
Raghav Sharma
Raghav Sharma
Raghav Sharma is a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Workday, where he leads development of production‑scale LLM and agentic AI services for the Student product line. He has co‑authored three peer‑reviewed AI papers, judged multiple international hackathons, and routinely speaks on pragmatic MLOps practices that turn cutting‑edge research into reliable, enterprise‑ready systems.
Kim Hoang (she/her)
Kim Hoang (she/her)
Kim is a mechatronics engineering student at the University of Waterloo, currently interning at Block (Square, Cash App, Afterpay, etc). as a data scientist. She was formerly president of the Data Science Club here at Waterloo. She is excited for LingHacks VI!Â
Shreya Upadhyay (she/her)
Shreya Upadhyay (she/her)
Shreya is an incoming freshman at Columbia University - School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is passionate about using AI/ML to work on projects for social good.
Pratik N Nalage (he/him)
Pratik N Nalage (he/him)
Pratik Nalage is a Senior Software Engineer at NVIDIA, where he leads the development of AI-powered internal platforms that enhance developer productivity and optimize cloud infrastructure at scale. He has judged multiple international hackathons, contributed to open-source initiatives, and actively works at the intersection of software engineering, AI systems, and intelligent automation.
Abhishek Dedhe
Abhishek Dedhe
Abhishek recently finished his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University. He has also been a medalist, problem committee member, juror, and coach at the International Linguistics Olympiad.
Mila Getova
Mila Getova
Mila is a high school senior from Bulgaria. 🇧🇬 A few months ago, she received some exciting news - she got accepted to UPenn (the College of Arts and Sciences) with a full-ride scholarship! 🎉 She would like to major in physics and continue exploring her other interests, such as Environmental Studies, History, Art, and Music. 🌀 As a part of the College and Career Panel, she would love to answer all of your questions and guide you through the application process - she knows it's stressful, but we are all in this together! 🫶 Best of luck! 🍀
Harshith Vaddiparthy
Harshith Vaddiparthy
Harshith is the Head of Growth at JustPaid (YCW23), building AI-powered financial tools for businesses. He previously founded multiple startups and actively mentors developers across hackathons and tech communities worldwide.
More panelist info coming soon!
Workshop Instructors
Workshop Instructors
Elnaz Toreihi (she/her)
Elnaz Toreihi (she/her)
Elnaz is a master’s student in computer science at Florida International University, specializing in AI and machine learning through the accelerated BS/MS pathways program. She’s previously interned as a software developer at Northrop Grumman and Nucor Corporation, and is currently a research student at FIU’s Neuroinformatics and Brain Connectivity Lab, where she applies topic modeling to uncover trends and gaps in ABCD study publications.
Rithvik Senthil (he/him)
Rithvik Senthil (he/him)
Rithvik is a graduate student in Computational Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently a GenAI intern at Scale AI and a research intern at the Language Technologies Institute in CMU, exploring how local intentions and global summaries influence conversational forecasting. Passionate about Natural Language Processing and leveraging AI for social good, Rithvik is excited to engage with the brilliant minds at LingHacks VI!
Bhoomi Patel
Bhoomi Patel
Bhoomi is a Software Engineer with six years of experience specializing in the intersection of Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. Bhoomi's expertise encompasses the design, development, and validation of AI-powered systems in complex environments. Beyond core engineering, Bhoomi contributes to machine learning research and mentors aspiring engineers, helping shape the next generation of talent.
Sarthak Bisht
Sarthak Bisht
Sarthak Bisht is a graduate student in Language Technologies at Carnegie Mellon University. He also holds a Master's (Carnegie Mellon) and Bachelor's (BITS Pilani) in MechE. He co-founded FPrime AI, an AI consultancy that works with Fortune 500 companies such as Intel, Intuitive Surgical and D.E. Shaw as well as deep-tech startups, delivering high-risk AI research and custom AI solutions. Sarthak also mentors and invests in social ventures that harness technology, training and financial instruments to create entrepreneurship and employment opportunities at the base of the economic pyramid.
Harshith Vaddiparthy
Harshith Vaddiparthy
Harshith is the Head of Growth at JustPaid (YCW23), building AI-powered financial tools for businesses. He previously founded multiple startups and actively mentors developers across hackathons and tech communities worldwide.
Karina Halevy (she/her)
Karina Halevy (she/her)
Karina is a PhD student in Language and Information Technologies at Carnegie Mellon University. She holds a joint bachelor's degree in Computer Science and History with a minor in Statistics from Harvard University. She has worked in technical research roles at Comcast, Apple, EPFL, Raytheon BBN, Harvard, and Affectiva as well as software engineering internship roles at Tableau (Salesforce), Microsoft, and Bloomberg. Her favorite activity is teaching - she has [head] TA'ed functional programming, discrete math, AI/ML, and natural language processing courses through Harvard, the University of Virginia, Wave Learning Festival, and ProjectCSGIRLS and developed 30+ workshops over the past 8 years for LingHacks.
Sarthak Dhole (he/him)
Sarthak Dhole (he/him)
Sarthak Dhole (he/him) is a junior at Jayshree Periwal International School in Jaipur, India. He is a firm believer in the ultimately rhizomatic nature of knowledge and loves to explore how various fields of study thread into each other. His subjects of interest include physics, ecology, computational linguistics, economics and philosophy. He is fascinated by language in all of its aspects and has recently also authored a Philosophy of Language paper. Having won accolades for his country in competitive philosophy, he is excited to bring his philosophical outlook to LingHacks in the form of a workshop on AI Ethics focusing on the epistemic responsibility pertaining to AI-generated content. Aside from this, and strangely enough, he enjoys fighting over physics (see: International Young Physicists’ Tournament). He has also spent considerable time at Science Fairs such as the International Conference of Young Scientists (ICYS). He is grateful to be a speaker during and serve as the Executive Hackathon Director for LingHacks VI.
Sponsors
Sponsors
Photos from LingHacks II (2019)
Photos from LingHacks II (2019)
A huge thank-you goes out to all of our sponsors, partners, mentors, volunteers, and judges for making LingHacks II possible. Check out the photos below for a peek at our second annual hackathon and get excited about LingHacks VI!
Alumni Success
Alumni Success
Past LingHacks prize winners have gone on to attend undergraduate institutions like Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, CMU, UPenn, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland College Park, UCLA, and UC Berkeley, to work in technical roles at OpenAI, ServiceNow, AWS, PayPal, Box, New York Times, Bloomberg, Etsy, AMD, Apple, Microsoft, Coinbase, DRW, Tesla, Stripe, Infosys, Oracle, Cisco, Databricks, Google, Meta, Waymo, HP, Roblox, Pfizer, and SpaceX, and to found several startups and become Neo Scholar finalists.Â
This could be you! Sign up today for an educational experience where you also get to build something cool and expand your network!
Interested in sponsoring LingHacks VI?
Interested in sponsoring LingHacks VI?
Please reach out at sponsorship@linghacks.tech and check out our sponsorship prospectus below!
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