Turkish Students’ Day of Pride in the UK: Team Ditto Wins HackSussex 2026

Five Turkish students at the University of Sussex have won HackSussex 2026 — one of the UK’s most celebrated university hackathons — beating dozens of international teams with an AI tool built in just 18 hours.

The Victory

When the results were announced at HackSussex 2026 — the University of Sussex’s annual 24-hour coding marathon — five Turkish students stood at the front of the room. Arman Ekingen, Arda Anıl, Baha Akman, Bahar Akın and Eray Baydemir had not only won. They had won by finishing six hours early.

Their project, Ditto, took first place in the competition’s flagship category, sponsored by Pfizer CXI+AI: ‘AI-Powered Enterprise Solutions’. The team was awarded the top prize and — perhaps more significantly for five students at the start of their careers — guaranteed job interview rights with the sponsoring technology firm.

What Ditto Does

The problem Ditto addresses is deceptively simple to describe and fiendishly difficult to solve. Global companies like Pfizer operate hundreds — sometimes thousands — of separate websites across different markets, regions and functions. When those sites need to be migrated, updated or consolidated, the process is enormously complex: every component, every element, every piece of visual infrastructure has to be identified, catalogued and moved.

Ditto automates this entirely. Using an AI algorithm the team designed themselves, the system scans web environments, automatically recognises individual components, and clones them with full fidelity — eliminating what would ordinarily be months of manual engineering work.

The jury awarded Ditto the highest score in the competition. The technical panel praised its practical applicability, the clarity of its architecture, and the fact that it had been conceived, designed and built within a single overnight session.

Eighteen Hours

The official time limit was 24 hours. The Ditto team completed their submission in 18.

This was not the result of cutting corners. The five team members had prepared meticulously — studying the challenge parameters, dividing technical responsibilities, and agreeing on an architectural approach before the starting gun. When the hackathon began, they moved fast and without hesitation.

‘We were very well coordinated,’ said team member Arman Ekingen. ‘Everyone knew exactly what they were building and why. That’s how you finish early.’

Five Students, One Stage

Arman Ekingen, Arda Anıl, Baha Akman, Bahar Akın and Eray Baydemir are all Turkish students currently studying at the University of Sussex. They came together specifically for HackSussex — forming a team built not on shared timetables, but on shared ambition.

For the Turkish-British community, their victory lands as something more than a competition result. It is a reminder that Turkish students studying in Britain — often far from home, navigating a new educational system in a second language — are competing, and winning, at the highest level of the UK’s technology scene.

HackSussex regularly attracts participation from students across the UK and Europe. It is one of the most respected university hackathons in Britain, with a track record of producing ideas that go on to become real products and real companies. Ditto may be among them.

“Turkish students studying in Britain are competing at the highest level of the UK’s technology scene — and winning.”

What Comes Next

The guaranteed interview right with the hackathon’s technology sponsor opens a direct door into industry for all five students. Whether they pursue that path, develop Ditto further independently, or use this win as the foundation for something else entirely, the trajectory is clear: five Turkish students walked into HackSussex 2026 as competitors and walked out as champions.

TBMag will follow their progress.

The Ditto Team

Arman Ekingen, Arda Anıl, Baha Akman, Bahar Akın, Eray Baydemir University of Sussex — HackSussex 2026 Champions Project: Ditto — AI-powered web component recognition and cloning system Category: AI-Driven Enterprise Solutions (sponsored by Pfizer CXI+AI)