Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh hosts AI hackathon to hone students’ enterprise

Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh, organised HACKDAY 2021 -- an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology based hackathon -- to provide a platform to the inner entrepreneur among students from its Computer Science Engineering (CSE) department. 

 

The hackathon was organised under Chitkara University’s Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) JAZBA, which has been formed under the aegis of Chitkara University Centre for Entrepreneurship Education & Development (CEED). 

 

The organisers for the event were David Mcdermott, director of operations, blockchain expert, Princeton Hive, USA; Avery Maune, director of communications, ecology expert, Princeton Hive, USA; and Adit Goswami, head, business and operations, entrepreneurial expert, Princeton Hive, India.

 

As many as 17 potential start-up teams comprising first-year CSE students took part in the event.

 

The HACKDAY 2021 panel of jury included CSE department head Kuldeep Sharma; dean (Pharmacy) Nitin Verma; assistant director, International Operations, Aditi Chandel; entrepreneur Akhilesh Jain; and David Mcdermott.

 

The event started with an informative session on entrepreneurship by Adit Goswami, where he spoke to students about the entrepreneurial mindset. It was followed by a session by McDermott and Maune, who discussed the misconceptions of Blockchain and use of AI in Ecology. 

 

“I wish we could use AI in Ecology as there is a big scope of human error in analysis. Animal traits tell a lot about human behaviour as well,” Maune said. 

 

The first prize of HACKDAY was secured by team Pirates of Fire, founded by Harsh Srivastava with teammates Ayushi Pathak, Ishan Chaudhary, Kunyalik Kanwar and Ankita Thakur. The team’s idea revolved around an AI-based fire extinguisher robot which will be able to extinguish fires with sound. The team won a soft commitment of Rs. 1 crore from the jury and investor Akhilesh Jain and a confirmed commitment of Rs. 1 Lakh towards prototype development.

 

The second prize was won by team Goal diggers, founded by Aditya Sharma. His team members were Suryam Bhukania and Saurabh Shukla. The team worked on a project which will help people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and also help in curing depression.

 

Team The weaponries founded by Abhinav Sehgal won the third prize. The teammates included Anjori, Akshita, Akshat and Anmol. Their idea was to introduce AI holographic projection into the optical sight of a soldier by a new product, ‘HARA’, that is based on hologram, to match the requirements of future warfare.

 

The next prize was won by team Door_1, founded by Devain Sharma. Its idea revolved around a sustainable energy production device that will operate on the basis of combined solar, thermal and wind energy and provide higher efficiency energy conversion. The team got a non-equity investment of Rs. 1 Lakh from three lead investors -- Kuldeep Sharma, Akhilesh Jain and CEED director Sumeer Walia.

 

The last prize was won by team Hack o holics founded by Aditya Hada and team members Hritesh, Ankit Rana, Ansh Verma and Atul Kapoor. Their idea was to work on plastic pollution using AI technology.

 

The awards were distributed by Manoj Manuja, pro vice-chancellor, Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh and CEED director Sumeer Walia who was the programme director of HACKDAY.