Helping through Code: How a Life‑Changing Programming Contest Began

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Can a hackathon for young programmers help solve a problem that’s been beyond the reach of medicine? Now we know that the answer is yes. #AimtecHackathon proves it. Competing teams address challenges sent in by specific people with disabilities and non-profit organisations. We spoke with its main organiser Petra Šteklová about the road that led to today’s version of this hacker competition.

This year’s #AimtecHackathon event was number nine. How did your first hackathon differ from this one?

Back then it was a whole new universe for me. I’ve always been more the sort who spends their free time outdoors, in the mountains, on a bike… Discovering this new community was an experience. I admire anyone with passion for what they do, and the hackathon’s people show it 100%.

A lot has changed since our first year, but luckily the atmosphere remains just as captivating. Originally, participants had total freedom in picking their projects. That created energy – but also some chaos. Today we aim to help the hackers find direction and try to act more as guides than just organisers. Here’s the best part – some of the early years’ participants are now coming back as mentors. They’re top experts who return because our hackathon has simply grown close to their hearts.

#AimtecHackathon has also grown up over time. Besides the HackIT competition, we now have YoungHackers workshops for kids and TechTalks, a mini-conference for the public. There’s something for everyone.

For the third year in a row, #AimtecHackathon has carried the tagline “Helping through Code.” What does that really mean?

It’s proof that tech can be about more than just better chips and faster code. It can be a tool that genuinely improves someone’s life. Participants often bring in ambitious ideas – sometimes too ambitious for the forty hours they have for building their HackIT projects. That’s why we now co-create challenges with people with disabilities and the organisations that support them. This way, the projects that participants work on can truly change lives and have a real impact. And it ties in nicely with where Aimtec is headed as a company. We want to build things that go beyond simply delivering software.

Which project has stuck with you most?

That’s a tough one, but I really enjoy the projects that aim to help blind people. One student team, for example, wanted to help their friend who couldn’t find a specific item in their pantry. The group came up with an app that “sees” for him, identifies what is where and reads out the label. Another year, a different team built an app that would describe what’s around a blind user in detail and answer their questions. This year the team returned to the hackathon to push the project closer to a real concept. Apple and Google offer such solutions today, but we were addressing it at the hackathon three years ago. And that’s exactly what it’s all about.

What is it that actually brings you to organise the hackathon? What draws you to it?

We enjoy technology. We also like the creative atmosphere and innovation. But we don’t want to lock ourselves away in it like in a lab. We want to see the world with a wider lens. To speak with younger generations, to inspire them, to pass something on. And meanwhile it enriches us – we meet people outside our bubble, from other fields, with different life experiences. If you want to motivate someone, the best way is to put a project in front of them that has impact, and gather great people around it. That’s true for our organising team, and (we believe) for the participants of #AimtecHackathon too.

Is there really a chance for anything workable to be built in just forty hours?

Surprisingly, quite often there is. And if it doesn’t work at once, it still has potential. Sometimes the team develops the project further, sometimes the initiator joins in, sometimes it ends up as a thesis or a non-profit collaboration. Overall, we like to see ourselves as proud explorers of blind alleys. That too is what it’s all about.

Was there any tech at the hackathon that was new to you and caught your eye?

At TechTalks I was impressed by a demo from Deloitte; their team built a chatbot for humanitarian crisis aid. Within just hours, they coded a system that could tell field workers what to do, where to go, how to help. In a crisis, just when the world’s feeling like it’s falling apart, someone’s telling you: “Start right here. You can do this here.”

In general, we’ve managed to bring something to each year of TechTalks to broaden our horizons. Last year we had a talk about AI in hospitals, this year we looked at real-world hacker attacks that targeted Pilsen. We pick a new theme for the talks each year, and so they never repeat.

And what do you personally enjoy about it the most? What makes you happiest?

I’m most pleased with that moment when everything starts to click into place. When you see the team working, everyone knows what to do, and we complement each other. Behind it all is almost a year of planning, picking topics, shaping challenges, arranging partners – and then suddenly it all comes together and makes sense. We do #AimtecHackathon with people who go into it full steam because they themselves want to do it. When they’re needed, they never turn their backs and say: “That’s not my job.” It’s the opposite – we hold each other up, fill in for each other and see it through together. And that’s what I probably enjoy the most. The feeling that none of us is in it just for ourselves, that we’re in it as a team. Otherwise, we would never have made it to our tenth year!

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#AimtecHackathon

Helping through Code

2025 was the ninth year of #AimtecHackathon. Several teams of young developers, graphic designers and software architects had the task over one weekend of programming an application to help specific people living with a disability. Besides the HackIT programming marathon, this event also includes a series of technology presentations – TechTalks – and the YoungHackers programme for children. The event promotes technical education and IT awareness among the general public.

#AimtecHackathon is organized by the Pilsen-based company Aimtec in cooperation with a number of technology partners and educational institutions, such as the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and the nvias association.

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