Tacoma, Washington, October 21, 2026 / PRNewswire / -- The Business Analytics Center of Sound Credit Union (referred to as Sound), in collaboration with the Tacoma Campus of the University of Washington ( UWT), announced that last weekend, they welcomed students from various colleges and universities throughout Washington State to participate in the second edition of HuskyHack.

Over 100 students signed up for this 24-hour hackathon event, which focused on developing a financial technology ( FinTech ) solution with the goal of helping consumers manage their personal finances with more confidence and ease.

On Saturday, October 17th, at 9 a.m., students gathered at William Philip Hall within the UWT campus to officially kick off the competition. The event began with a thematic discussion session where several business and industry leaders shared their professional experiences and offered advice to the participants before the challenges commenced.

Subsequently, the students were informed of the competition task: to create a solution that would enable Sound Credit Union to identify when members are being manipulated, their accounts are compromised, or they are falling victim to scams, and to develop a fintech tool that can intervene before funds are lost due to fraud. Participants could choose to compete individually or in teams.

HuskyHack is divided into two stages. In the first stage (on Saturday), participating students present their preliminary concepts to the judges. After receiving the challenge topic, the students give a two-minute presentation to the judges. The top three ideas will be recognized, and each winner will receive a cash reward of $1,000.

After listening to the feedback from the judges, the participants move on to the second stage of the competition, where they further refine their respective plans. The awards for this stage include a cash prize of $15,000, as well as a six-month membership at CoMotion Labs in Seattle, where the winning team can continue to advance their projects alongside other entrepreneurs and innovators.

On Sunday, all individuals and teams presented their ideas for five minutes to the judges. After reviewing each proposal, the judges selected Scout as the champion for the HuskyHack of 2026. Scout was developed jointly by UWT finance major students Colin Sica and Noah Soepardi; it is a real-time fraud detection service capable of monitoring common fraud tactics in telephone conversations.

According to the description, when the caller requests money, passwords, account information, verification codes, or remote access rights, Scout will first put the caller on hold and privately issue a potential fraud alert to the member. Afterwards, the member can choose to continue the call, end the call, or safely contact Sound Credit Union.

Sound Credit Union Vice President of Public Relations Jennifer Reed indicates:What inspires us is not only the number of participating students but also the enthusiasm and innovative spirit they demonstrated in the competition. It was difficult for the judges to make a decision. Many of the submitted works showed great potential. In the end, Colin and Noah developed a solution that we believe can help financial institutions better protect consumers and deal with increasingly complex fraud schemes.

This competition showcased impressive innovation and creativity, with the score difference between the top five entries being only 0.5 points. In addition to Scout, the top five solutions also included: Chau Dang Le's Flowgate, Halim Lee's Harbor, Rithin Karthik, Arnav Mittal, and Gabrael Ramos's Wire Assist, as well as Dheeraj Tallapragada and Bhargava Perumalla's Vantis. A complete list of participants and project teams can be found on the website DevPost where the competition was held.

Scout Founder Colin Sica and Noah Soepardi indicate:Winning the 2026 HuskyHack further demonstrates the value of our ideas. As finance students participating in a hackathon for the first time, we understood that creating a solution that is unique, feasible, and scalable is crucial to success. We enjoyed every step of the process, from brainstorming and outlining concepts on a whiteboard to building and testing our solution in less than 24 hours. Getting Scout to run in front of the judges proved that with a good idea and a willingness to learn and adapt, we can compete with anyone.

Sound and UWT indicate that over the past decade, both parties have established a stable partnership that has continuously benefited students and a broader community. HuskyHack Such activities provide students with valuable opportunities to collaborate, apply their knowledge to real-world challenges, and build connections with professionals from business and industry as they prepare for their future careers.

Sound and UWT indicate that both parties have begun preparing for the next HuskyHack, which is expected to return in the autumn of 2027.

About Sound Credit Union

Sound Credit Union was established in 1940 and is now one of the largest credit cooperatives in Washington State. Sound has 26 fully functional branches in the Puget Sound area, providing genuine and trustworthy financial support and services to over 186,000 members. Sound states that its mission is to be alongside its members, employees, and community at every stage of life.

About the Center for Business Analytics at the University of Washington Tacoma

The Center for Business Analytics ( CBA ) under the School of Business at the University of Washington Tacoma ( Milgard ) serves as a platform for research, education, and innovation. This center is dedicated to promoting the application of "analytics," "big data," and "intelligent machines" in order to generate actionable insights that support business decision-making. CBA It brings together the professional expertise of faculty from various fields within the School of Business, including accounting, business analytics and operations, economics, finance, management, and marketing ( Milgard ). The center also collaborates directly with corporate partners to identify, define, and study key business issues and opportunities.

Message source: Sound Credit Union