Greater Noida: Noida International University (NIU) successfully organised the Grand Internal Hackathon for the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026, providing a dynamic platform for over 400 student innovators to transform ideas into technology-driven solutions for real-world challenges.
The event was organised under NIU’s flagship initiative NSSIP – NIU Student Startup and Innovation Program and was designed as a complete simulation of the SIH 2026 National Finale. The innovation journey commenced with a Pre-event Workshop on September 8, which orientated more than 400 students for intensive problem-solving.
The Internal Hackathon witnessed student teams working on 50 Problem Statements across 17 Themes, aligned with five major national thrust areas – MedTech, Disaster Management, Blockchain & Cyber Security, Agriculture and Smart Automation. These thrusts are closely aligned with NIU’s 10 Research Thrust Areas, 37 Research Clusters and the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.
The inaugural ceremony was graced by Hon’ble Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Vikram Singh and Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Uma Bhardwaj as Chief Guests and Hon’ble Registrar Prof. (Dr.) Mukesh Parashar as Guest of Honour. All Deans motivated students to approach the hackathon with a creativity and problem-solving mindset.
In his opening address, Prof. (Dr.) B Rajanarayan Prusty, Dean – Research & Innovation and Convener – SIH 2026 Internal Hackathon, highlighted that the hackathon was conceived as a comprehensive simulation of the national finale. The 6-hour hackathon was structured into 3 hours of intensive mentoring and 3 hours of rigorous evaluation. Three expert jury panels with perfect domain mapping – two for Software and one for Hardware – mentored and evaluated teams on technical viability, innovation potential and problem statement alignment.
In the valedictory ceremony, four teams securing the highest average scores – two from the Hardware and two from the Software categories – were declared Winners and felicitated with mementoes and certificates. Winning solutions were in the themes of MedTech/BioTech/HealthTech, Agriculture, FoodTech & Rural Development and Transportation & Logistics. All participants received certificates. As per jury recommendations, deserving teams will be nominated for the SIH 2026 Grand Finale. The vote of thanks was delivered by event SPOC Dr Veerendra Yadav.
