Priyadarshan, a Jamshedpur, India native and Computer Science and Neuroscience student at the University of Maryland, College Park, class of 2026, has been named one of 2025's MLH Top 50—a list compiled each year by Major League Hacking (MLH) of the organization's most inspiring community members. The recipients are recognized for their exceptional contributions to the tech ecosystem and STEM education.
Narayanasamy earned his place on the list through an extraordinary hackathon record, winning 19 out of 22 events attended over two years, including First Place Overall at HackPrinceton, Track Winner at HackMIT, and Third Place at Hacklytics.
"What truly drives me is bringing ideas to life," Narayanasamy says. "Each event teaches me something new, and every hackathon reminds me how far I've come."
His journey began unexpectedly when he discovered a hackathon through an Instagram post while looking for a way to visit friends in Delhi. That first event, where his team built an alarm clock using Arduino, sparked a passion that transformed his academic and career trajectory.
Originally a biomedical engineering major, Narayanasamy switched to computer science after recognizing its potential as "a universal toolkit" for solving problems across disciplines. At UMD, he co-founded and serves as Vice President of the AI/ML Club, growing membership from eight students to over 600 in just two semesters.
Under his leadership, the club has established partnerships with companies including Deloitte and Cipher Tech, organized workshops on advanced topics like transformer models and RAG systems, and created collaborative research projects with faculty.
His research contributions include work at the iCosMos Lab under Dr. Nirupam Roy, where his SING project was accepted at ICML 2025. He has gained industry experience as a Full Stack ML Engineering Intern at Gencise AI and previously as an ML Research Intern at Kaliber Labs.
"Being selected for the MLH Top 50 is an exceptional honor, as each recipient is chosen from our community of more than 500,000 developers worldwide," says Mike Swift, MLH CEO and Co-Founder. "These 50 individuals represent the most innovative and impactful members of the next generation of technologists, and we're proud to celebrate their contributions to the global developer community."
Congratulations, Priyadarshan! We celebrate not only this achievement, but your passion towards technology and using it to change the world, one hackathon at a time. Click here to learn more about Priyadarshan's journey to hacking.
