Stefan Aleksic, 26
Longtime Major League Hacking community members will recognize Stefan Aleksic. He took home MLH’s Rookie of the Year in 2014 for his accomplishments creating the Cosmos Browser with fellow hackers Rohith Varanasi and Justice Suh. The revolutionary browser was the first of its kind to offer consumers the ability to browse the web without mobile data service, providing massive benefits in areas without widespread mobile broadband.
Stefan first discovered programming in junior high, and, like many, his passion stemmed from gaming. While playing Age of Empires 2, Stefan discovered the game’s scripting language and unpacked it for himself, creating his own AIs within the game engine. He continued to develop his own games, and when he completed his first game, The Lost Mouse, Stefan says he realized he was “completely obsessed with programming” and had found his life’s passion.
Following his passion with a fervent dedication and a thirst for knowledge, Stefan continued coding into high school, developing Android apps to help students calculate molar mass or prank each other with photos of Nicolas Cage. But finding a dedicated community of hackers wasn’t easy, and Stefan attributes being introduced to CodeDay Chicago by u/zachlatta, the Executive Director of Hack Club, as one of his life’s “pivotal moments.” Asked how hackathons and the hacker community have changed his life, Stefan attested that they have provided him with “an overwhelming amount of agency.” He even has a specific routine for how he spends the last night of hackathons, he says, going around “introducing himself and asking people what they worked on.” It’s in those moments, exhausted from a long day’s work in the dead of night at 5 a.m., that Stefan has met some of his closest, lifelong friends.
Stefan has made his mark on the tech industry in the last few years since winning MLH’s Rookie of the Year, working at top companies including Twilio, Uber, and Facebook. Since graduating, Stefan has founded his own company, Plasmo, that makes it easy for developers to make browser extensions, a passion of his from his hacking days. Stefan prides himself on taking initiative, and he says one of his favorite things about hackathons is that they “are all about building. They’re not about pitching, ideating, or dreaming. You actually build that idea you dreamed of.”
Unsurprisingly, Stefan sees tremendous value in hackathons, which have helped him grow both personally and professionally, and provided him a community and resources with which to launch a successful career. Stefan has contributed wholeheartedly back to this community, helping to provide opportunities for others to find a passion in hacking as well. While making hackathons possible is nothing new for Stefan, who in 2014 helped found BrickHack at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he is looking forward to helping more hackers begin their journey in the fall. He plans to sponsor upcoming hackathons with his rapidly growing company, Plasmo, and aims to inspire the next generation of hackers the way he was inspired through hackathons earlier on in his career.
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Stefan Aleksic, 26
Longtime Major League Hacking community members will recognize Stefan Aleksic. He took home MLH’s Rookie of the Year in 2014 for his accomplishments creating the Cosmos Browser with fellow hackers Rohith Varanasi and Justice Suh. The revolutionary browser was the first of its kind to offer consumers the ability to browse the web without mobile data service, providing massive benefits in areas without widespread mobile broadband.
Stefan first discovered programming in junior high, and, like many, his passion stemmed from gaming. While playing Age of Empires 2, Stefan discovered the game’s scripting language and unpacked it for himself, creating his own AIs within the game engine. He continued to develop his own games, and when he completed his first game, The Lost Mouse, Stefan says he realized he was “completely obsessed with programming” and had found his life’s passion.
Following his passion with a fervent dedication and a thirst for knowledge, Stefan continued coding into high school, developing Android apps to help students calculate molar mass or prank each other with photos of Nicolas Cage. But finding a dedicated community of hackers wasn’t easy, and Stefan attributes being introduced to CodeDay Chicago by u/zachlatta, the Executive Director of Hack Club, as one of his life’s “pivotal moments.” Asked how hackathons and the hacker community have changed his life, Stefan attested that they have provided him with “an overwhelming amount of agency.” He even has a specific routine for how he spends the last night of hackathons, he says, going around “introducing himself and asking people what they worked on.” It’s in those moments, exhausted from a long day’s work in the dead of night at 5 a.m., that Stefan has met some of his closest, lifelong friends.
Stefan has made his mark on the tech industry in the last few years since winning MLH’s Rookie of the Year, working at top companies including Twilio, Uber, and Facebook. Since graduating, Stefan has founded his own company, Plasmo, that makes it easy for developers to make browser extensions, a passion of his from his hacking days. Stefan prides himself on taking initiative, and he says one of his favorite things about hackathons is that they “are all about building. They’re not about pitching, ideating, or dreaming. You actually build that idea you dreamed of.”
Unsurprisingly, Stefan sees tremendous value in hackathons, which have helped him grow both personally and professionally, and provided him a community and resources with which to launch a successful career. Stefan has contributed wholeheartedly back to this community, helping to provide opportunities for others to find a passion in hacking as well. While making hackathons possible is nothing new for Stefan, who in 2014 helped found BrickHack at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he is looking forward to helping more hackers begin their journey in the fall. He plans to sponsor upcoming hackathons with his rapidly growing company, Plasmo, and aims to inspire the next generation of hackers the way he was inspired through hackathons earlier on in his career.
Quick Facts
Links
