Smart India Hackathon begins in Hubballi college

Hubballi: This time, KLE Society’s BVB College of Engineering and Technology in Hubballi, which is one of the 48 nodal centres of the country to hold the grand finale of Smart India Hackathon, is given problem statements by Samsung R and D, Schneider Electric and HCL.
As many as 150 students of 25 teams, which have been selected for grand finale, have started a 36-hour hackathon from 9am on Saturday and their task will conclude by 8 pm on Sunday.

Speaking to STOI, P G Tewari, principal of the college, said his college is nominated to hold the hackathon for the third consecutive year to reiterate the Prime Minister’s vision. “All India Council for Technical Education, Inter Institutional Inclusive Centre and Persistent Systems have been organising this non-stop digital product development competition, where problems are posed to engineering students for innovative solutions. We are holding the grand finale to solve the problems provided by three companies,” he said.

Sharing her experiences, Shailaja Thakur, a team member of IIIT Kalyani, said she has the experience of attending hackathons conducted by private companies. “But this hackathon, organised by the Union government, gives me a pleasure of contributing to the nation,” she added.

Tanvish Minache, Vaibhav, Aparna, Vaishnavi, Amith and other members of KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belagavi, said that it’s a good experience to know the requirement of industry without any theoretical barricade. “We are getting exposure with industry-level problems. We started preparations under the guidance of our mentors in our college. We also sought help from our counterparts in the mechanical department of our college,” they stated.

The grand finale of SIH was inaugurated by Balaji Holur, senior vice-president and head, Samsung R and D, Bengaluru on Saturday. Lokesh Boregowda, director, Samsung R and D, Asok Shettar, vice chancellor, KLE Technonogical University and others were present on the occasion.