February 03, 2023, Hyderabad: International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) in collaboration with the Pravaha Foundation conducted a PAN India Hackathon for students between the ages of 10-17 years.
A total of 55 teams(3-4 students in each) registered in two categories from different cities in India. There were 3 stages of filtration in the hackathon and the final stage was conducted physically at the IIITH campus
The topic of the Hackathon was ‘Sustainability through Technology’. The purpose of the Hackathon was to build solutions using technology for Climate Change issues and to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) no.10 and 13.
For the final phase, the 1st category(10-13yrs) tried to find solutions for the problem statement on Automated water management- Monitor and control usage of water. The 2nd category (14-17 years) tried to build solutions around Automated Disaster management (including forest fire, litho-disaster, and water-borne disasters). Participants worked on their solution model for 2 days in their respective teams at the IIITH campus using Robotics, IoT, and App Development combinations to execute the solutions.
For the finale, 3 faculty members from IIITH (Prof Ramesh Loganathan, Prof Hari K, and Prof Prakash Yalla), 2 faculty members from Mahindra University and economists(Asst Prof. KeertiPendyal and Asst Prof. Anjali Rajan), Environmentalist/Founder of The rainwater projectKalpana Ramesh, and Advisor, Agustya International Foundation- M G Subramanian were invited to evaluate the teams based on their solutions and presentations.
On the last day, the panel members not only evaluated the model solutions presented by kids but also gave them suggestions/opportunities to apply the prototype and extend it to real-life implementation.
Everyone including mentors, judges, and the organizing team was impressed by the enthusiastic, innovative, and conscious young mindset of the participants. It gave us a ray of hope for building a sustainable world in the future.
The Hackathon developed problem-solving abilities, design thinking capability, presentation and entrepreneurial skills, and environmental awareness among the students. Winners and runners-up in the Finals received mementos, cash prizes of up to 25,000/- and certificates. They will also be provided with the opportunity to participate in the next international Hackathon organized by Pravaha.