Inpsirational Figures of the Badge

This year we pulled inspiration from some great figures of literature, the arts, science, and mathematics.

Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe is always an inspiration for us here at HackRVA. The local legend is a staple of Richmond. With his exploration of horror and the depths of the human psyche, he's always a source of the surreal parts of the badge.

MC Escher

The Dutch illustrator is an icon of the twentieth century. With his highly detailed works inspired by philosophy, logic, and mathematics, his work reflects a curiosity about the fringes of our knowledge.

Joseph Fourier

This French mathematitian is largely known for his investigation of Fourier series. This work led to whole new branches of mathematics including Fourier analysis and harmonic analysis. Many important advances in these fields are named in his honor, even those created after his death. Even now, these fields are crucial in powering our devices and their ability to encode messages transmitted around the world.

Adi Shamir

This Israeli cryptographer and inventer is at the center of numerous technologies we use today. As the S in RSA, his work plays a constant role in the security of our internet. While all academics collaborate to some extent, Shamir is notable for the numerous collaborative efforts he participated in. From RSA (with Ron Rivest and Len Adleman) to FFS identification (with Uriel Feige and Amos Fiat), his legacy is not only technical excellence but the coming together of many to build something greater than each.