Shetty Institute of Technology (SIT), Kalaburagi, conducted a two-day Internal Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026 on August 20 and 21, providing students with an opportunity to apply their engineering knowledge to real-world challenges and develop technology-based solutions.

The hackathon brought together student teams to work on selected problem statements through various stages, including ideation, problem analysis, solution development, prototype building, technical preparation and validation.

During the first day, the teams worked on understanding the challenges identified in their respective problem statements and developed technology-driven solutions. They explored emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics to convert their ideas into workable prototypes.

On the second day, the teams presented their solutions before a jury for technical evaluation and validation. The projects were assessed on parameters such as innovation, understanding of the problem, technical feasibility, scalability, implementation potential and social impact.

The event was attended by Sujay Mudgal, cluster head, Kalaburagi, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM); Veeranna Gatate, Cloud expert, CloudThat Technologies, Bengaluru; and Sandeep Samson, programme manager, COMED-KARES Innovation Hub, Kalaburagi. The experts interacted with the participating teams and shared their insights on emerging technologies, innovation, prototyping, entrepreneurship, scalability and developing solutions with industry and real-world relevance.

Anirudh Shetty, director, Shetty Group of Institutions, said the objective was to create an environment where students could identify problems and start developing solutions rather than wait for opportunities to innovate.

“The Smart India Hackathon gives them an opportunity to test their ideas, learn from experts and understand what it takes to turn engineering knowledge into real-world solutions. We want more ideas from Kalaburagi to have the confidence and capability to compete on national platforms,” he said.

The hackathon concluded with the final validation of the projects and recognition of the top-performing teams. The first, second and third-place teams were awarded cash prizes for their solutions.

Published - August 22, 2026 07:21 pm IST