What happens when students bring their skills together to solve a real-world problem? At the 2026 Skandalaris Fall Hackathon, the answer was Pentimento—and a first-place finish.
Applied Computational Modeling Club (ACMC) members Ivan Vashchenko and Volodymyr Hrimov, both Principia College students, teamed up with fellow ACMC member and Principia School alum Paris Patterson to compete in the 2026 Skandalaris Fall Hackathon at Washington University in St. Louis. Their team took first place among 25 competing teams, earning a $750 prize for Pentimento—an innovative solution for documenting rental-property conditions.
The weekend-long competition challenged participants to identify a real-world problem, develop a viable solution, and use AI strategically throughout the process. Teams had just days to move from an initial idea to a working minimum viable product and a two-minute video pitch.
Pentimento tackles a problem familiar to short-term rental hosts and guests: How do you document a property's condition when responsibility changes hands?
The team’s answer is a tool that turns a short phone walkthrough into a timestamped 3D record of a property’s condition. Instead of relying on a collection of photos or someone’s memory, the record creates a detailed visual reference that can be used when damage or other disputes arise.
Different strengths. One shared vision.
Pentimento brought together technical development, design, product strategy, and geospatial expertise.
Vashchenko, a senior studying Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, led the technical development of the product. He built the web application and backend architecture and developed the photogrammetry pipeline that transforms ordinary phone video into a textured 3D reconstruction.
Hrimov, a sophomore studying Business Administration and Digital Arts, shaped the product’s visual identity, user experience, interface, and landing page. He also originated the concept of using a 3D model as a record of proof for property-condition disputes.
Patterson brought experience in geospatial analysis and data-driven problem-solving to the team, leading product strategy, communication, and market validation. A Principia School ’24 graduate, Patterson is now an undergraduate physics student at Sorbonne University. She first connected with the Applied Computational Modeling Club (ACMC) through its spring Video Geospatial Intelligence Hackathon at T-REX.
“We each came from completely different backgrounds, and yet we pulled everything together into something we were genuinely proud to put in front of the judges,” Hrimov said.
From idea to prototype in one weekend
The Skandalaris Hackathon was designed around learning by doing. Teams weren’t expected to produce a finished company or polished product. They were challenged to test an idea, make decisions quickly, build something that worked, and communicate why it mattered.
Pentimento stood out.
After advancing to the live finals, the team demonstrated its working prototype and explained how the product could address a specific gap in the short-term rental market. Judges evaluated finalists on their understanding of the problem, strength of the solution, working prototype, strategic use of AI, and ability to communicate their vision.
The team ultimately took first place, ahead of four other finalists.
And they aren’t stopping there.
Feedback from the competition suggested that Pentimento has potential beyond the hackathon, including opportunities to develop its underlying technology into a broader service.
For Vashchenko, the experience is another example of what ACMC was created to make possible.
“ACMC keeps proving what an interdisciplinary, multi-university team can build when very different people attack the same problem from different directions,” he said.
Building what’s next
Opportunities like this don’t happen in isolation. ACMC is supported by faculty sponsor Jonathan Langton (US’97, C’01), and HIVE, Principia College’s hub for innovation, venture, and entrepreneurship. HIVE provides resources and logistical support that allow students to pursue ambitious, hands-on projects. That support creates room for students to experiment, collaborate, compete, and learn by doing.
For Vashchenko and Hrimov, Pentimento is already their second successful hackathon project. With this first-place finish, they’re showing what Principia students can do when they combine technical knowledge, creative thinking, entrepreneurial problem-solving, and the willingness to build something new.
