At the Michigan DevFest 2025 AI Hackathon, a team from Eastern Michigan University (EMU) secured first place in one of the state’s most prominent technology competitions. The event was held at Wayne State University and brought together industry professionals and startup founders from across the Midwest.
“It’s one of our greatest accomplishments, actually,” said Chanuth Jayatissa, a junior computer science major and Honors student at EMU. “We were very honored to represent EMU.”
The hackathon, powered by IBM watsonx, took place on November 21-22, 2025. Participants were asked to address key economic challenges in Michigan—brain drain, manufacturing modernization, and small business innovation—using IBM watsonx AI technologies.
Led by Jayatissa, the EMU team consisted of students and recent graduates: Ahmad Hashmi (sophomore computer science major), Ziad Sabri (computer science graduate now working as a software developer at Henry Ford Hospital), Karthikeya Thota (junior cybersecurity major), and Mohammad Arjamand Ali (double major in computer science and math now employed at Truss). Team members came from Sri Lanka, Yemen, and other countries.
“Because we connected so well, I think that’s the reason we were able to win,” said Jayatissa. “It was an amazing team. We really divided the tasks well and that really helped us to build in the short amount of time.”
Unlike many hackathons that last over a day or more, this competition required teams to develop their solutions within six hours.
“It was one of the hardest hackathons because of the time constraint,” Jayatissa said. “We had never used the IBM products, so we had to create our product and also learn how to use the IMB products in just six hours.”
Out of 200 initial registrations for the event, judges evaluated 35 final submissions before awarding EMU’s team with the $1,000 grand prize.
“The progression from 200 registrations to 35 final submissions reflects the rigor of the competition. Some registered participants ultimately didn’t complete submissions, making the teams that finished, and especially those that placed, particularly notable,” said Jenna Ritten, IBM InnerSource Ecosystem Leader and Corporate Technology Leader for IBM worldwide. Ritten is also one of Michigan DevFest’s founders.
A panel of tech industry leaders scored EMU’s submission with perfect marks in Completeness and Feasibility; Effectiveness and Efficiency; Design and Usability; Creativity and Innovation.
“A first-place win at the Michigan DevFest AI Hackathon is highly significant,” said Ritten. “What makes this win particularly meaningful is the real-world applicability of the challenge. Teams weren’t building theoretical solutions; they were developing practical tools to keep Michigan talent and investment in-state. First place represents not just technical excellence, but the ability to identify genuine market needs and create solutions that could immediately impact Michigan’s economy.”
The winning product developed by EMU’s team was “MIStartup Navigator,” an AI-powered tool designed to help entrepreneurs in Michigan navigate resources such as grants, investors, and personalized startup roadmaps.
“The platform addresses a critical problem: founders waste valuable time searching across disconnected resources for grants, funding, investors, and guidance, often giving up and leaving Michigan for more established tech hubs,” Ritten explained.
Team members credited their preparation at EMU—including coursework across multiple colleges—for helping them meet this real-world challenge using artificial intelligence.
By outperforming industry teams and senior developers during this event, EMU students demonstrated their readiness not only to compete but also to lead technological innovation efforts.
“For their careers, this win serves as a portfolio piece demonstrating all of these capabilities. It’s evidence they can deliver under pressure, work with enterprise-grade AI platforms, and create solutions that matter. Technology companies, particularly those building AI products or serving the startup ecosystem will recognize this as a significant achievement.” said Ritten.
For Jayatissa’s team members—the award validates both their technical skills gained through late nights studying together at EMU as well as their diverse backgrounds.
“At the end of the day we want to graduate and have a successful career and this really helps us be recognized especially being from a smaller university like EMU. We want to make a name for EMU in this space.”
Eastern Michigan University has evolved into a comprehensive public university since its founding in 1849 focused on teacher education. Today it offers more than 200 undergraduate majors along with graduate programs across various fields including education, health sciences official website. The campus features historic architecture combined with modern facilities supporting student success official website. Nationally recognized for its programs official website, Eastern Michigan University emphasizes hands-on learning experiences aimed at preparing students for professional careers official website.
