Smart India Hackathon 22'
My team got shortlisted as one of the grand finalists of SIH 2022, the World’s biggest open platform for the innovators or entrepreneurs of tomorrow to start today towards a smarter India.
Before sharing my first-ever in-person experience in a hackathon, let me brief you on the competition and the whole process.
What is Smart India Hackathon?
Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem-solving.
Who can participate?
It’s categorized into 2 portions which,
SIH Junior (Jr) — School students from 6th to 12th class will be able to showcase their talent and generate out-of-the-box open innovation ideas.
SIH Senior (Sr) — Regular Students of HEI’s pursuing “Graduate/Post-Graduate/Ph.D” will be able to showcase their talent and generate out-of-the-box open innovation ideas.
SIH journey was started in the year 2017, followed up with every year by providing an impact to the Students, Private Organizations, Institutes, Ministries & PSUs.
Hop into — https://sih.gov.in/ to get to know more.
Process Flow?
- Usually, problem statements are collected from the State ministries & review of Submitted PSs & finalization by the concerned committee Publishing finalized PSs.
- They are followed by registration of College SPOCs on the SIH portal Blocking published PSs by SPOCs of Colleges or Institutes Internal campus hackathon to be conducted in each college or institute by their SPOCs on their blocked PSs.
- College SPOC will be responsible for conducting an internal hackathon in the campus College to finalize the total best 10 teams + 5 waitlisted teams from the internal hackathon. SPOC will recommend the selected teams for SIH 2022 Software/Hardware edition at the SIH portal.
- Team leaders of the selected teams will be registering at the SIH portal to submit ideas Submission of ideas by selected teams against PSs by college SPOC for the SIH2022 Finale Evaluation of submitted ideas.
- The results of the finalists will be announced in the portal officially and further updates about the commencement of the hackathon will be declared.
The story behind our travel to Dhanbad:
After the required processes were done, teams were contacted via Mail and a Telegram Group to discuss and clarify our doubts. The update about the Venue of the Finale was declared in the portal. We’ve got IIT ISM Dhanbad, Jharkhand. It was absolute hype for us to travel such a long distance far from our hometowns. The dates of the Finale were announced which were August 25 & 26, 2022. We’re given certain tasks which need to carry while we reach the venue.
The T-shirt and Standee design was shared between the teams while other necessary formalities were taken forward by the college which was hosting the Finale.
My team booked the tickets beforehand and we departed from Chennai. It took 1 and a half days to reach Dhanbad. It was really hard to block the tickets and everything was pre-booked by passengers, so we left under the waiting list. It is a miracle that our tickets were confirmed under the blue sky. The beauty of nature kept us occupied while we worked on the application we were building.
A journey by train was an awe-inspiring experience passing through West India’s magnificent nature.
As soon as we reached the Dhanbad Railway Station South Side, the organizers of IIT ISM came to take us to the college.
The awe of an IIT Campus!
The welcome was so charming, we got a flower bouquet as a reward. It took just 20 mins from the station to the college via bus. It was a rainy day with warm weather outside. Two of the Organizers guided us inside the college where our Mentor left us once he reached the department he’ll be staying and we were taken to the hostels which were so big as apartments. One was Rosaline Hostel for girls and the other was Jasper for Boys. We girls were taken inside by a guide and surprisingly we were given a room on the topmost floor 12th to reside by. The view from the top was amazing and I could see the whole sight of Dhanbad. The campus was surrounded by green nature and it felt the way that I heard what the IIT campus looks like.
The Central Library is one of the world’s biggest libraries known for. The room given to us was occupied by two beds, a cupboard, and two tables with chairs near a window with a beautiful view outside. Once we freshened up we asked to come for lunch on the third floor of the Central Library, where the food booth was taking place during the whole event.
The food was so delicious that it made the journey to JHN worth it. The registration for the teams started at 5 PM on 24th Aug, and each team was asked for all the necessary information that the college wanted right from our ticket bills to all our proofs. Once the process was done we were given an agenda note, id, and a kit.
2 splendid days of the Grand Finale:
Day 1 — It started with a good breakfast and we all assembled at the auditorium for the Inauguration of the ‘Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2022’. Once the inauguration ceremony ended with the greetings and addressing speeches we were taken to the nearby garden for a snap of the whole participants.
The coding began at 9:30 AM followed by a tea & snack break. The First round of Training Sessions started with 7–10 mins per team where Individual Ministry experts trained the teams. They shared their ideas to improve the application and which can be added/ removed. We’d have lunch at 1:00 PM and 6hrs of time to work on our project.
In between all practices, team DD Jharkhand had a great time interviewing us back to back about our Problem Statements and our approach to them. It was great interacting.
The First Round of Evaluation began at 7:00 PM with 3 judges per panel. Later we had Dinner, and coding resumed with some midnight energy drinks.
The Second Round of Training started at 12:00 AM. The organizers performed some fun activities among the finalists to motivate them.
Day 2 — Morning with Yoga Session to boost our energy and Breakfast served. The second Round of Evaluation began at 9:00 AM followed by power mentoring again. These rounds made us clear about our application and what can be improved ahead.
P.S. It was a pleasure being featured in DD Jharkhand.
The coding stopped at 3:00 PM sharp subsequently the Final Round of Evaluation took up. We were asked to submit our code files in a pen drive to the organizers.
Power Judging occurred then we were taken to the auditorium for the result announcement.
My team was rewarded as runner-up of the Smart India Hackathon 2022. As the first-ever in-person hackathon, it was a fascinating learning experience.
The organizing team did a great job helping us with all our needs then and there and waved us goodbye once we hopped into our platform.
We ended our trip to Kolkata by enduring good aesthetic photos.
The golden time we had returning back home was something beyond what I expected in my lifetime. The memories and the beautiful time I had with you guys (Tvisha Raji, Aatiq Hussain, Varshini, Akash, and Lekhashree) will always stay in my heart. Thank You.
Important Note — The amount we spent on our train travel has been reimbursed!
Feel free to connect with me — https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidhya-l-1aaab61b90/
