Daniel Efres, 21
Daniel Efres: Proving Your Finish Line Isn’t Dictated by Your Starting Line
Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Daniel Efres learned early on that innovation starts with resourcefulness - making the absolute most of whatever tools were in front of him. That mindset laid the foundation for his curiosity when he decided to build his first custom gaming PC in his early teens. Beyond assembling physical components, he became fascinated by the bridge between hardware and software, spending hours exploring the BIOS and tweaking settings before teaching himself HTML and CSS. Seeing lines of code instantly render visual interfaces felt like a digital extension of assembling physical machines - an evolution from managing hardware to architecting digital environments that ultimately led him to pursue a Computer Science degree at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
During his freshman year at UCF, Daniel was fully dedicated to his academics and excelling in his coursework, but he had yet to discover the environment that would unlock his full potential beyond the classroom. He found that exact catalyst during his sophomore year when he joined Knight Hacks, stepping into the high-energy space that would push his growth into overdrive. Mentored by former MLH Top 50 Hacker Dylan Vidal, Daniel was pushed to step outside his comfort zone and enter his first two hackathons. For the first time, coding extended past lectures into a fast-paced environment where he could collaborate, solve real-world problems, and build functional software from scratch. Reflecting on how the community shifted his perspective, Daniel notes, “It stopped being about just getting a grade and started being about what I could actually build and who I could help along the way.”
Driven to create that same transformative space for the next wave of students, Daniel turned his energy toward organizing and mentorship. Serving as Secretary and later Projects Director for Knight Hacks, he organized major events like Knight Hacks VIII and GemiKnights, while founding the Project Launch Expo to showcase student innovation campus-wide. Through these initiatives, Daniel cemented his role as an ecosystem builder - a leader who could organize large-scale community spaces while continuing to push his own technical boundaries. Beyond student leadership, Daniel’s technical versatility caught national attention when he was featured in an episode of Google Cloud Tech’s AI Agent Build-Off Youtube series, building an autonomous Go-To-Market AI agent using Google’s Agent Development Kit (ADK) and Gemini models.
The high-pressure energy of hackathons and community organizing didn't just sharpen his engineering skills - it completely reshaped his career trajectory. “It’s hard to overstate how much it changes you,” Daniel emphasizes. “[Hackathons] turned my career path into an adventure rather than just a checklist.” That adventure translated directly into professional industry momentum, opening doors to internships at BNY, UCF CDL, and NVIDIA.
Daniel’s evolution stands as proof that there is no standard timeline for success; what truly matters is showing up, staying dedicated, and taking ownership of your growth. Reflecting on the mission that drives him today, Daniel shares the core message he passes on to the next generation of builders: “Starting ‘late’ meant I had to be incredibly intentional about my growth and move twice as fast to catch up. I think that's inspiring for others in the community to see - that your starting line doesn't dictate your finish line. [...] It’s never too late to find your lane and dominate it.”
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Daniel Efres, 21
Daniel Efres: Proving Your Finish Line Isn’t Dictated by Your Starting Line
Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Daniel Efres learned early on that innovation starts with resourcefulness - making the absolute most of whatever tools were in front of him. That mindset laid the foundation for his curiosity when he decided to build his first custom gaming PC in his early teens. Beyond assembling physical components, he became fascinated by the bridge between hardware and software, spending hours exploring the BIOS and tweaking settings before teaching himself HTML and CSS. Seeing lines of code instantly render visual interfaces felt like a digital extension of assembling physical machines - an evolution from managing hardware to architecting digital environments that ultimately led him to pursue a Computer Science degree at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
During his freshman year at UCF, Daniel was fully dedicated to his academics and excelling in his coursework, but he had yet to discover the environment that would unlock his full potential beyond the classroom. He found that exact catalyst during his sophomore year when he joined Knight Hacks, stepping into the high-energy space that would push his growth into overdrive. Mentored by former MLH Top 50 Hacker Dylan Vidal, Daniel was pushed to step outside his comfort zone and enter his first two hackathons. For the first time, coding extended past lectures into a fast-paced environment where he could collaborate, solve real-world problems, and build functional software from scratch. Reflecting on how the community shifted his perspective, Daniel notes, “It stopped being about just getting a grade and started being about what I could actually build and who I could help along the way.”
Driven to create that same transformative space for the next wave of students, Daniel turned his energy toward organizing and mentorship. Serving as Secretary and later Projects Director for Knight Hacks, he organized major events like Knight Hacks VIII and GemiKnights, while founding the Project Launch Expo to showcase student innovation campus-wide. Through these initiatives, Daniel cemented his role as an ecosystem builder - a leader who could organize large-scale community spaces while continuing to push his own technical boundaries. Beyond student leadership, Daniel’s technical versatility caught national attention when he was featured in an episode of Google Cloud Tech’s AI Agent Build-Off Youtube series, building an autonomous Go-To-Market AI agent using Google’s Agent Development Kit (ADK) and Gemini models.
The high-pressure energy of hackathons and community organizing didn't just sharpen his engineering skills - it completely reshaped his career trajectory. “It’s hard to overstate how much it changes you,” Daniel emphasizes. “[Hackathons] turned my career path into an adventure rather than just a checklist.” That adventure translated directly into professional industry momentum, opening doors to internships at BNY, UCF CDL, and NVIDIA.
Daniel’s evolution stands as proof that there is no standard timeline for success; what truly matters is showing up, staying dedicated, and taking ownership of your growth. Reflecting on the mission that drives him today, Daniel shares the core message he passes on to the next generation of builders: “Starting ‘late’ meant I had to be incredibly intentional about my growth and move twice as fast to catch up. I think that's inspiring for others in the community to see - that your starting line doesn't dictate your finish line. [...] It’s never too late to find your lane and dominate it.”
