Building Belonging Through Innovation: How Johns Hopkins Students Shined at Social Impact BuildFest 2026
What happens when you give a room full of engineers, designers, and problem-solvers just three days to tackle some of society’s most complex challenges?
At Social Impact BuildFest 2026, Johns Hopkins students turned a weekend of immersive-technology collaboration into real impact and a first-place finish. Held March 27–29 at the University of Maryland’s Do Good Accelerator, the event challenged participants to design AR experiences for social good around the theme of belonging.
With support from the Whiting School of Engineering’s Center for Media and Technology Solutions (CMTS), 12 Johns Hopkins students from biomedical engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and engineering management joined interdisciplinary teams alongside peers from UMD.
BuildFest is presented by Arts For All, Immersive Media Design, The Do Good Institute, Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, and MAVRIC, with support from the XR Club. It is part of a broader national series led by the Texas Immersive Institute and the Immersive Experience Alliance, connecting students across universities through immersive technology and social impact.
Over three days, students built AR prototypes addressing issues ranging from accessibility and wellness to healthcare access and civic participation. One standout was Cashocracy, the first-place project created by Alexandra Veremeychik, Venkata Varshini Chilukamarri, and Enoch Appiah. The project uses AR to make campaign-finance data more visible and intuitive for voters.
Johns Hopkins students played a leading role in several top projects:
TOP PROJECT RESULTS
1st Place: Cashocracy
2nd Place: Space Decoder
3rd Place: ARise
Honorable Mention: Star Link
Winning teams were invited to continue developing their work through UMD’s Center for Innovation, with top teams advancing to AWE USA 2026 in Los Angeles.
BuildFest is part of a national initiative led by the Texas Immersive Institute and the Immersive Experience Alliance, connecting students across universities through immersive technology and social impact. For Johns Hopkins, the event reflects the strength of a growing XR ecosystem and the value of giving students hands-on opportunities to build, collaborate, and apply emerging technologies to real-world challenges.
More than a competition, BuildFest showed how engineering, design, and immersive technology can come together to create more inclusive communities and how Johns Hopkins students are helping lead that work.
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