An interview with this year’s Eclipse SDV Hack MCs
As the 2025 Eclipse SDV Hackathon approaches, we spoke with this year’s Hack MCs, Andre Bott of Bosch Digital and Christian Heissenberger of the Eclipse Foundation, about what drives their passion for hackathons, what excites them most about this year’s unique two-location format, and why these events play such a vital role in fostering innovation and collaboration within the SDV community.
What motivated you to take on the role of Hack MCs for this year’s event?
Andre Bott: Having actively contributed to hackathons since 2017 – first as a hack coach and later as a Hack MC – it was an easy decision to say yes when I was asked to take over the role for the Berlin location. Knowing the Eclipse SDV Working Group from various Bosch Connected Experiences, and of course from being the Hack MC during the Chapter One Hackathon in Munich, I was excited to once again connect with bright young minds, experience three intense days brimming with energy, meet new people, witness amazing ideas come to life, and see the finalists compete in the pitches.
Christian Heissenberger: For me, this is a totally logical step. I was a Hack Coach last year at Chapter Two in Karlsruhe, hosted by Harman, and it was a blast! The spirit and energy are just amazing. Since the beginning of the Eclipse SDV Working Group in 2022, I’ve seen a lot of Hack MCs, and I want to step up for the community as well. And as a hackathon-addicted person, I just needed to tick this box on my bucket list.
Looking ahead to the 2025 SDV Hackathon, what are you most excited about, and why?
Andre: I’m most excited about seeing all the intense work and thought that the SDV community has put into this hackathon finally come to life. It is amazing to watch the teams rapidly develop their solution ideas and complete an entire development cycle – culminating in a successful presentation to the jury – all within just three days.
As a Hack MC, I cherish the opportunity to support these teams through coaching, offering a business perspective, connecting them with key resources, and, most importantly, encouraging and reinforcing their belief in success, especially when energy levels dip. This active engagement is something I genuinely enjoy and find immensely energising.
Christian: The greatest thing will be having two locations! A wonderful venue in Porto, connected to a vibrant development hub in Berlin where we’ve already hosted some hackathons, will make for a very exciting experience for both the staff and participants. And of course, the challenges: while fewer in number this year, winning the trophies will require participants to be creative, motivated, and well prepared. I expect a very tough race, as the projects are now more mature and well known in the community.
In your view, why is this hackathon significant for the SDV ecosystem and its community?
Andre: Hackathons serve as a great first touchpoint for a community. Individuals who take part are inherently highly motivated and curious about emerging technologies and software solutions – precisely the kind of talent every active open-source community thrives on. By hosting these events, we effectively reach a wider audience that might otherwise remain untapped.
Young professionals and students join not just for the competition, but for the immersive experience. They leave with invaluable knowledge and, crucially, a lasting impression of the technologies and projects they engaged with.
In short you could say, every hackathon is a sign of a vibrant ecosystem, one that is actively searching for new contributors and fostering collaboration by connecting key developers as Hack Coaches.
Christian: In my opinion, an SDV Hackathon is the most important event for projects and the community. The participants get to connect directly with the Project Leads and the most active committers within the SDV community. You can unleash your creativity, test your ideas, and pitch them to the jury. Winning the prize is just the cherry on the top of the cake. There is also a great chance to become part of the community after these three days, as we hope the challenge solutions will bring value back to the projects. And this is the other side of the hackathon: last year, one solution directly led to a pull request for a project. Even better, a participant from last year has returned as a Hack Coach this year! What a great win for both the community and the projects.
"We've successfully crafted two challenges that, each in its unique way, showcase the powerful interconnection of the Eclipse SDV projects to solve real world issues while still leaving enough freedom to get creative about the solutions."
This year’s challenges, the Virtual SDV Lab and Mission: Update Possible, sound exciting. What makes them unique?
Andre: Every challenge inherently offers a unique opportunity to interact directly with the core individuals driving the Eclipse SDV projects. I personally always look forward to the innovative ideas teams will develop. In my experience, challenges must be compelling enough to attract participants, yet also provide ample freedom for creativity, allowing teams to truly surprise us. This year, we've successfully crafted two challenges that, each in its unique way, showcase the powerful interconnection of the Eclipse SDV projects to solve real world issues while still leaving enough freedom to get creative about the solutions.
Christian: Spoiler Alert! Imagine a fully virtual vehicle network running on your desktop, laptop, or network, complete with simulations, connected embedded hardware, development tools, and more. A platform where you can immediately start building your ADAS ideas! Or dive deep into the world of software updates, with options ranging from deeply embedded systems and vehicle software orchestration to a complete fleet service solution.
And the unique thing about both? They are 100% open source, vendor-neutral, and automotive-ready!
New to the SDV Hackathon field this year is Eclipse openBSW, combined with the mature projects Eclipse Ankaios and Eclipse Symphony.
With the hackathon happening across two locations this year, what challenges do you anticipate from this geographical split, and how are you preparing to overcome them?
Andre: The primary challenge lies in our core organisation team and Hack Coaches not being able to physically converge for quick, last-minute problem-solving or support of the teams at their desks. Also, we do not want to run two hackathons that happen to be on the same timeframe and topics but really want to create the feeling of having one big hackathon connected over the locations.
For the first topic, I’m fully confident we’ll manage more than well, as remote collaboration and alignment are the bread and butter of the open source world.
To foster a truly unified event experience and ensure participants feel fully integrated across both locations, we were fortunate to rely on a team from the SDV Working Group who prepared live streams and strategic interaction points to create a strong sense of connection between the venues.
Although this multi-site format requires a slight adjustment in dedicated coding time to allow for inter-location engagement, I am convinced that the benefits of this unique, interconnected approach will far outweigh any minor trade-offs.
Christian: One of the obvious challenges is supporting the Hack Coaches. We need twice as many coaches this year, spread across two locations. Thankfully, careful organisation months ahead of the event is already in place. There’s also double the effort in preparing the venues, but this is being expertly handled by the highly experienced Hackathon Event Team at the Eclipse Foundation.
Another well-known challenge is how to connect the two locations. But Dana, Olga, Arina, Aurélie, Sara, Ana, Amin, and all the other members of the SDV Crew have prepared an amazing real-time video streaming service to link both sites – just like in live TV shows!
In addition, there will be side challenges connected online between the locations. Another important aspect is organising team ratings to ensure every team is judged equally. My Hack MC partner will be in Berlin while I’ll be in Porto, and together we’ve enhanced our rating system so results are visible across both locations.
"An SDV hackathon is like sweets – try it once, and you’ll come back again and again."
What’s your one-line pitch for why someone should take part in this hackathon?
Andre: This hackathon is your ultimate opportunity to break from routine, immerse yourself in three days of intense energy, collaborate with like-minded individuals, and grow as a team while competing for exciting prizes – an indispensable experience for any aspiring software developer.
Christian: An SDV hackathon is like sweets – try it once, and you’ll come back again and again. Join this great community on site, with the chance to dive into deep discussions with Project Leads and key committers.
