How to Win a Hackathon: Insights from the First Dutch Pre-Hackathon Webinar (EUDIS 2025)

The countdown to the Dutch edition of the EUDIS Defence Hackathon 2025 has officially begun. On 18 September, the first pre-hackathon webinar took place, introducing Challenge 1: Protection of Space Assets. The session also featured insights from Karol Masztalerz, co-founder of AquaHub and winner of EUDIS 2024, who shared practical lessons on what it takes to succeed in a hackathon.

Challenge 1: Protecting Europe’s Satellites

Satellites are essential for Europe’s navigation, communication, and Earth observation systems — but they face growing threats: jamming, spoofing, cyberattacks, debris, and even anti-satellite weapons.

Challenge 1 calls on participants to propose practical ways to strengthen resilience, for example through:

• detection and anomaly analysis,
• creative use of open datasets,
• protective tools or countermeasures, and
• visualisation systems that make risks easier to identify.

The focus is on building proof-of-concept solutions during the hackathon weekend — ideas that may be simple, but demonstrable.

Lessons from Last Year’s Winner

Drawing on his team’s winning experience in 2024, Karol highlighted what makes the difference between a good idea and a winning project:

• Form a balanced team
  “Three to five people with different skills is ideal. Don’t rely only on software — include someone who can handle data pipelines or prototyping.”
• Decide quickly
  His team generated three ideas in the first two hours, eliminated two, and focused on one. Speed and focus matter.
• Prototype over polish
  “A rough demo is more convincing than the best-looking slide deck. Judges want to see if your idea actually works — even in its simplest form.”
• Ask the right questions
  Mentors are there to help, but only if you approach them well. Instead of “Do you like our idea?” ask: “Would this approach solve a real operational problem?”
• Pitch with clarity
  Start with a clear hook, explain the problem in one sentence, show the demo, and highlight what makes your solution different.

His key message: hackathons reward action. Teams that build and demonstrate something tangible stand out every time.

Q&A Highlights

The discussion that followed offered practical advice for participants:

• Data: No classified datasets will be provided. Teams should work with open sources (e.g. Copernicus, NSO portals) and use simulations or proxies where needed.
• Mentors: Experts from TNO, NLR, the Ministry of Defence, and industry will be available during the hackathon — prepare specific questions in advance to make the most of their expertise.
• Judging: Demonstrability is key. A simple prototype that runs on a laptop can be more powerful than a concept that exists only on slides.

Watch the Recording

If you missed the live session, you can catch up here:

The recording includes the full introduction to Challenge 1 and all of Karol Masztalerz’s tips on how to succeed in a hackathon.

If you would like to receive the presentation slides, please fill in this form

What’s Next: Upcoming Webinars

Three more Dutch pre-hackathon webinars are scheduled to help participants prepare:

• Challenge 2: Space for Defence
  Learn how Earth observation, navigation, and secure communication can support multi-domain military operations.
  
• Challenge 3: Sovereign Aerospace
  Explore innovation opportunities in drones, autonomous systems, monitoring, countermeasures, and advanced manufacturing.
  
• Open Stage & Q&A
  A chance to test your ideas, ask questions, and get direct feedback from mentors and organisers before the hackathon weekend.

Join the Hackathon

The Dutch edition of the EUDIS Defence Hackathon takes place on 17–19 October 2025 at CometLab, NL Space Campus. Over one weekend, you’ll team up with innovators from across the Netherlands to tackle real defence and aerospace challenges.

👉 Registration closes on 10 October, 09:00 CEST — sign up now to secure your spot.

Featured Image credit: Freepik