CampusConnect: University of Washington Databricks Hackathon
Join Databricks and Corteva on February 28, 2026 for hands-on learning data and AI skills, followed by an afternoon hackathon where you work on real-world challenges faced by Corteva engineers day-to-day.
Databricks Solution Architects will guide you through an intro session covering:
An overview of the Databricks platform, including how Corteva uses it day-to-day
AI/BI Dashboards, Genie, Unity Catalog, and Lakehouse architecture
Hands-on demos and exercises
Food will be provided.
Who should attend?
This event is open to current University of Washington students. Content is especially relevant for students studying computer science, engineering, information science, statistics, or data science, but all majors are welcome.
Advance registration is required, please use your university email. If you are not a part of the Allen School (all are welcome!), please use your department email so that we can make sure you get access to the building.
Why attend?
Build confidence working with Databricks
Learn practical, in-demand data and AI skills
Connect with Databricks and Corteva engineers and leaders
Receive 1 month of free Databricks Academy Labs access
Compete for Databricks credits and exclusive swag
What to bring?
Your laptop (required)
Speakers
Harshit Rai is a Resident Solutions Architect at Databricks in Seattle, helping organizations solve some of the most complex data and AI challenges. He holds an MS in Data Science from the University of Washington and brings experience in Data Engineering and Machine Learning Operations (MLOps). Before Databricks, Harshit worked as a Research Scientist in Machine Learning for the Vera Rubin Observatory (Chile) and as a Data Engineer at Shell, where he helped develop an analytics product that boosted revenue by $500M annually and received multiple VP CIO Awards. He is passionate about mentoring the next generation of data professionals, and he also co-founded and led a startup during his junior and senior years of undergrad study.
Spencer McGinn is the Sr. Technical Lead in Databricks’ Field Engineering Strategy & Scale organization, where they architect data-powered programs and launch frameworks that help internal field teams efficiently adopt the Lakehouse and deliver measurable outcomes. They co-authored the Databricks Diagnostic recommendation platform and public blog, leveraging telemetry to generate actionable, best-practice guidance for Databricks across data engineering, machine learning, and platform administration. They have led cross-functional initiatives such as NPI and the Account Actions—standardizing product rollouts to all of Field Eng, automating signals, and scaling shared technical services—while mentoring field teams on Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, and Spark. Earlier in their career, Spencer served as a Customer Success Engineer supporting strategic accounts like Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, and Atlassian, driving adoption and growth of Databricks at massive scale. They also taught in and helped develop the University of Washington's Big Data Technologies certificate program, equipping practitioners with industry-aligned skills in distributed processing and data governance. Their focus areas include distributed systems (Apache Spark), data governance (Unity Catalog), lakehouse architecture (Delta Lake), and telemetry-driven operational scale.
Mehul K Bhuva is an AI and Data Engineering leader with over 20 years of experience in full-stack development, cloud architecture, and modern data platforms across industries including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, medical, and manufacturing. At Corteva, he has led major modernization initiatives using Azure and the Databricks Lakehouse, while integrating Azure AI Foundry to build intelligent RAG-based solutions and high-performance analytics platforms. A Microsoft-certified Azure Data Engineer and active technical blogger, Mehul is passionate about sharing real-world AI practices and helping teams accelerate digital transformations.
Ryan Glanzer is the Data Supervisor for the GSO Lakehouse at Corteva Agriculture, leading day-to-day operations of the Global Seed Operations Databricks Lakehouse platform. He oversees teams responsible for data ingestion, refinement, and publishing of trusted, consumer-ready data products, while coordinating deployments, incident response, access management, and governance. With extensive experience in data architecture and leadership across multiple industries, Ryan brings a pragmatic, end-to-end approach to enterprise data strategy and operations.
Zhe "Z" Sun is a Senior Solutions Architect and Tech Lead at Databricks. He partners with customers to design scalable data architectures, driving complex technology discussions that translate the Databricks platform into tangible business outcomes. Prior to Databricks, he spent 9 years at AWS, bringing deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, big data, and machine learning. Outside of work, you'll find him skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer.
Doyoung Jung is a Solutions Architect at Databricks in Seattle, where he helps startup customers design and build modern data, analytics, and AI platforms on the Databricks Lakehouse. He specializes in the intersection of AI, business intelligence, and software systems, serving as a subject matter expert in embedded analytics. Before joining Databricks, he was a Partner Solutions Architect at AWS, helping ISVs integrate business intelligence into their SaaS products. A proud Husky, Doyoung is also pursuing a Master’s in Data Science at the University of Washington part-time.
Elise Hollowed leads the Databricks University Alliance, where she works with universities and students around the world to help the next generation learn data and AI skills that translate into real jobs. Before Databricks, she led education programs at GitHub, including GitHub Campus Experts, and introduced millions of students to the power open source and developer communities. She’s passionate about making tech more social and inclusive. Outside of work, you’ll usually find her on a never ending quest to climb mountains in the Pacific Northwest.