Roorkee, Dec 8: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has officially launched the Grand Finale of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025 – Hardware Edition at its Rethink! The Tinkering Lab. The national-level event has brought together 150 students and 36 faculty mentors from across India. As a recognised Nodal Centre under the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) and AICTE, IIT Roorkee is playing a key role in empowering the country’s future hardware innovators.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by distinguished guests, faculty coordinators, and participating teams, along with a live digital connection to the central SIH 2025 inauguration. The programme began with a welcome address by Prof. Varun Sharma, the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for SIH 2025, followed by messages from representatives of the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell.
The event also saw the presence of Nodal Centres Head Mr. Shrikant Sangludkar and Mr. Vikas Verma from AICTE. The nationwide inauguration was formally conducted online by Prof. T.G. Sitaram, Chairman of AICTE, who addressed participants from 60 nodal centres across the country simultaneously.
This year, the Hardware Edition at IIT Roorkee is hosting 25 teams working on five major problem statements issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW). The challenges focus on areas such as extreme-weather monitoring systems, satellite-enabled handheld communication devices, crop maturity prediction tools, affordable cotton-harvesting solutions, and improved jute retting machinery. These innovations directly support national initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Viksit Bharat@2047, Digital India, Make in India, and Agriculture 4.0.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. K.K. Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, said that the Smart India Hackathon reflects the nation’s dedication to technology-driven solutions. He noted that IIT Roorkee is proud to provide a platform where young innovators can design hardware solutions that strengthen national priorities in security, agriculture, and rural development, embodying the spirit of self-reliant India.
Emphasising the institute’s commitment toward innovation, Prof. Varun Sharma, SPOC for SIH 2025 and Faculty Coordinator of the Tinkering Lab, stated that the hackathon offers students a rare opportunity to transform real-world challenges into practical solutions. He added that IIT Roorkee is honoured to contribute to this national initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell.
During the week-long hackathon, student teams will work intensively within the advanced Tinkering Lab environment under the guidance of expert mentors and jury members from departments including Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Design, and the Tinkering Lab’s technical staff.
The innovative solutions developed during the Grand Finale are expected to make a significant contribution toward India’s long-term goals of technological self-reliance, youth empowerment, agricultural transformation, and next-generation hardware development.
IIT Roorkee has extended its best wishes to all participating teams and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting innovation for national progress.