E-Cell IIIT Pune Aligns Another Event with its Entrepreneurship Movement | Hackathon 2k21
The Entrepreneurship Cell at the Indian Institute of Information Technology Pune, in continuation to organizing two successful events Ideathon 2k21 and Silk Route quiz over the past, has finished up another magnificent event Hackathon 2k21. This grand event, powered by Juspay Technologies in association with AlgoUniversity, was massively scaled to a level that has not been matched by the newly established IIITs to date.
The registration for the event was started on 8 June 2021 for all those rising entrepreneurs who readily get to grips with real-time problems while coming up with feasible solutions. About 1600 ingenious minds from more than 300 colleges across 11 nations registered to be a part of the Hackathon 2k21 with the strenuous motto - 'Let's Hack the Future'. Before the actual event, participants were engaged in some fun side events. While events like Google flex, Treasure hunt, and Area 51 amused participants with exciting prizes and moments of delight, the Round Table conference staged heated discussions by practicing freedom of speech.
For the first round which was held between 18th to 20th June 2021, participants were asked to provide a basic solution approach to the problem statement. By the time the results of the first round were announced, workshops were organized for the participants to deep down into emerging technologies through virtual platforms. Along with these digital practicums, E-Cell IIIT Pune elegantly came up with 'Breaking Conventions' - a brand new Youtube series, wherein ingenious minds got to meet renowned entrepreneurs to turn entrepreneurial spark within them into flames. Eminent entrepreneurs like Mamta Kumari, Manas Kumar Verma, and Ankush Singla shared their lifetime learnings and experiences from their journey of entrepreneurship. IIIT Pune’s very own alumnus Rohan Lekhwani talked on "How to really win a Hackathon?". After this mind-opening session participants were forced to contemplate their motive for the participation in hackathons. Pearls of wisdom on 'dreams as the finest investment' and guidance for 'process-based progress' by entrepreneur and students’ favorite Aman Dhattarwal put a groundbreaking end to the first season of Breaking Conventions.
Then the most awaited moment in any Hackathon had come and on the shot of the starting gun, the 50-hour sprint of coding began on 25th June. 31 teams, who had succeeded to limn their exceptional ideas made it to this round. But, Round 2 was going to be way tougher, where finalists had to tussle to code their ideas and provide a workable solution. With such brilliant minds, the eminent and experienced jury from big players in the industry like Robert Bosch Engineering and Dell Technologies had a hard time selecting the winners.
Lastly, the closing ceremony banged in to wrap up a month-long grandiose event. Teams of each theme, which came up with the most innovative solution and put it into effect were declared winners and were awarded cash prizes. Hackathon 2k21 was a fulfilling experience for everyone involved in it at any level - be it the organizing committee, the participants or even the jury. It was due to all these people that the event of such a scale in an online mode ran hassle-free and became an experience of a lifetime.
E-Cell IIIT Pune feels immensely obliged to come up with similar awe-inspiring events in the future for the youth aspiring and tussling for oncoming innovation.
Credit: Saksham Kathuria