Smart India Hackathon- 2019 (Hardware Edition) Grand Finale at IIT Delhi

NEW DELHI, JULY 9: The Grand Finale of the 2nd part of the Smart India Hackathon-2019 (Hardware Edition) kicked off on Monday (July 8) at 18 nodal centres in 9 states, one Union Territory and one Capital Territory of India.

Inaugurating the Smart India Hackathon 2019 at IIT Delhi (one of the nodal centres), Prof V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said, “Engineering is all about solving problems using optimal resources. A multi-disciplinary approach is key to find a solution to a problem. Learning to work in a team on a problem that has relevance for the society or industry, is a huge learning experience by itself. I am happy that the Smart India Hackathon provides students with such an experience.”

The first part of Smart India Hackathon 2019, (Software Edition) was conducted on 2nd & 3rd March 2019.

The Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) -2019 (Hardware Edition) was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in New Delhi.

The Union HRD Minister and MoS HRD Sanjay Dhotre interacted with the students participating in the Grand Finale at various nodal centres through video conferencing from New Delhi.

SIH was started in the year 2017, with the participation of around 50000 students, in the year 2018 around one lakh students participated. This year, the magnitude has grown bigger; around two lakh students are participating this year.

More than 1.2 Lac students from 2235 colleges sent their entries for 198 problem statements, submitted by more than 40 industries and 9 central government ministries and various government departments.

In the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2019 (Hardware Edition), around 2000 participants from 250 teams of 178 different colleges are participating, including IITs and NITs.

In Smart India Hackathon 2019 (Hardware Edition), problems are broadly based on Agriculture & Rural Development, Food Technology, Waste Management, Clean Water, Renewable Energy, Healthcare & Biomedical Devices, Smart Vehicles, Robotics and Drones, Security & Surveillance, Smart Communication, Sports and Fitness, Sustainable Environment, Smart Textile, Smart Cities areas.

In SIH, problem statements under various themes are shared by several industries and ministries. For these problem statements, teams of students from various colleges and universities in India develop conceptual solutions, prototypes and products, and further test them. This hackathon happens in multiple stages.

In the first round, the teams are shortlisted based on the description of their solutions for the problem identified. In the second round, the teams are shortlisted based on the short videos of the prototypes they have developed. This evaluation is also done by the industry or organisation that provides the problem statement.

In the final round, the shortlisted teams are invited to one of the nodal centres depending on the problem statement and indulge in building products for close to 5 days.

A Jury comprising of faculty members from IIT Delhi, heads of successful IIT Delhi incubated start-ups, and experts from industries, with expertise in electromechanical/electronics/mechanical engineering, will monitor the progress of all the teams, and accordingly, decide the winners in various categories

Depending upon the nature of the problem, cash prizes for selected ideas and solutions will be given to participating teams. For simple problems Rs. 50,000; for complicated problems Rs. 75,000 and for complex problems Rs. 1 lac will be awarded.