Zero-to-Hero: Life-Changing Stories of Students & Hackers

It's never about us, it's all about them!

In this lightning round session, hear from graduates of the XR Foundations & Prototyping Bootcamp, scholars of the Beyond Inclusion Program and participants of our global XRAI Hacks who went from curious beginners to confident creators. Many of them showcased their projects at our partner event AWE, Hackathons or on social media — and for some, that was the moment their careers took off.

They’ll share:

• How they started with little or no XR experience
• What they struggled with and how they broke through
• The exact steps that helped them level up fast to get to their next career steps
• Why AWE and hackathons became life-changing milestones

Whether you’re just getting started or looking for your next big leap, this session proves it’s possible, regardless of background, location, or resources. And this is just the tip of the iceberg — these stories come from students and hackers representing 61 countries around the world.

Connect with our Speakers, and ask them any questions you'd like during the session:

Xinchan Jin (Hong Kong)

Award-winning XR developer fusing AI, MedTech, EdTech, and creative media

Görkem Topalhan (Türkiye)

Architect and XR designer shaping immersive environments at the intersection of spatial design and technology.

Artem Kolomatskyi (Netherlands/Ukraine)

XR visionary and 5× hackathon winner, Artem is the creator of Heartborne XR and co-founder of Massera—a project redefining human connection, education, and presence through AR/MR. With a background in XR design and creative leadership, he blends mindful design with immersive tech to build deeply intuitive, human-centered experiences.

Felix Jarquin (US)

XR creative engineer and Disney Studios Tech Intern alumni blending game design, 3D animation, and software engineering.

Kagupati Vijay Kumar (India)

XR developer, speaker, and student entrepreneur passionate about AR/VR, ML, and education innovation.

Haowei (Sowilo) Xiong (UK)

XR developer who focus on Cultural Heritage, Narrative Interaction, Games and Film, EEG Development, Whole Body Tracking, Multiplayer Interaction, Digital Theatre.

Nadinda Rachmat (Australia)

A finance graduate, now softwer developer, open source contributor, educator, and speaker, reinventing herself through tech and community.

Melisa Tuğçe Haspolat (Türkiye)

Unity & Roblox developer blending architecture, art, AI, and gameplay design to build engaging, immersive worlds.

Heather McGee (US)

XR Developer specialized in crafting immersive AR experiences across Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok, and also developing XR experiences using tools such as Unity and Blender.

Luis Castrejón (Mexico)

Game developer and VR creator with a background in computer science. Co-founder of VRDemons, exploring the intersection of art, tech, and interactive media.

About XR Bootcamp:

XR Bootcamp is a global online academy, offering skill-to-job beginner and advanced XR development courses. Curricula are developed and taught by award-winning VR, AR, and MR professionals. XR Bootcamp's cutting-edge courses are for designers, game developers, managers, and coders who want to learn how to prototype XR Applications and learn AR, VR, and MR development. XR Bootcamp further supports the XR Creators community with free and open access to knowledge, peer-to-peer learning, and networking opportunities. XR Bootcamp is proud that alumni leave outstanding reviews and work at companies like HP, Autodesk, Accenture, Samsung, Snap, Lockheed Martin, Harvard, USC and Carnegie Mellon University.

xrbootcamp.com

About XRAI Hack:

Last year, over 520 hackers joined XR AI Hack in four major cities around the world, building wild, boundary-pushing XR & AI use cases. XRAI Hack is the first global XR League of Champions, kicking off this year in Cologne right before Gamescom. The hack is organized by XR Bootcamp, which partners with Meta. Corporate partners provide real-world industry challenges with additional prizes. Hackers are invited to hack using the latest XR and AI tech stacks released over the years and get matched with corporate XR tech decision-makers.

xraihack.com