The problem of climate change can seem daunting, and individual efforts often feel like they don’t amount to much in solving it.
This quandary led Abraham Mekonnen, a rising senior at EMU majoring in computer science, along with a team of three students from Queens College in New York City, to develop FootPrint Mayhem, a sustainability-focused platform that encourages and rewards users for minimizing their carbon footprint in creative ways through streaks, games, and points. Users can track their daily carbon footprint, take quizzes to learn eco-friendly habits, earn points and streaks for consistent actions, and compete with friends on a leaderboard. Although the platform is no longer active, it was available at footprintmayhem.org.
“Think Duolingo, but for saving the planet,” said Mekonnen, who is spending the summer in New York City as a software engineer intern at Morgan Stanley. “We asked ourselves, ‘How can we help people learn while having fun at the same time?’”
Mekonnen and his team won the “Best Use of Defang” prize for their creation, besting more than 500 undergraduate students from around the world at HackHarvard 2024. Defang is a tool used to develop, deploy, and debug hackathon projects. The annual 36-hour coding competition was hosted by Harvard University students from Oct. 11-13, 2024, on their campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and brings students together to “collaborate, innovate, and build awesome projects in a short amount of time.” “Winning never crossed my mind,” Mekonnen said. “I was competing against people with vast knowledge from all these great and wonderful schools, so I thought there was no way I could win.”
But win they did. Over an intense 36-hour period, Mekonnen and his team worked tirelessly to develop an idea for a project, design it, and present it to judges. “I think we probably only slept for two to four hours during that time,” he said.
“This recognition from HackHarvard is incredibly motivating,” Mekonnen wrote in a post after the event. “It validates our belief that technology can make sustainability accessible and enjoyable for everyone.”
He said the win has already opened new doors for him, helping him land his current internship at Morgan Stanley. “The computer science field right now is hectic,” Mekonnen said. “Even finding interviews is hard, so this has been a wonderful resume builder.”
He was also invited to present on a panel at the Horizon Conference, held at James Madison University in November, which brings together changemakers, innovators, and leaders passionate about tackling global challenges and fostering inclusive growth.
Mekonnen, who moved to Harrisonburg from Ethiopia at 12 years old, serves as president of the Computer Science Career Club and is a member of the International Students Organization at EMU. He credits professors Dr. Daniel Showalter, Dr. Stefano Colafranceschi, and Charles Cooley with providing the foundational programming knowledge that helped him succeed.
He said he hopes to inspire others at EMU the same way he was inspired by recent alumna Hebron Mekuria ’24, a computer science major who also won a hackathon—Black Wings Hacks in 2023—and interned at Morgan Stanley.
“People at EMU might not think they can win and do great things,” he said. “I hope my story encourages other students to push themselves beyond what they thought was possible.”
The next HackHarvard competition will be held from Oct. 3-5, 2025. For more information about the event, visit: hackharvard.io
So proud of you, Abraham! Keep killing it!