Rourkela: HackNITR 5.0, a two-day hackathon event, concluded Sunday at NIT Rourkela. This edition of the hackathon, inaugurated Saturday, received a massive response as there were over 3,200 registrations, out of which 240 participants from across the country were selected to participate. This much-awaited event is widely popular among tech students who gather to work on solving problems using technology. The fifth edition of HackNITR is organised by the Technical Society of Student Activity Centre, NIT Rourkela in collaboration with Google Developer Student Club and OpenCode Club.
Welcoming the participants during the inaugural ceremony at the BB Auditorium, Vice President of Technical Society Kaustav Chaudhury said, “Hackathon is like a marathon for ethical hackers, but instead of running, participants use their skills in programming, design, and problem-solving to come up with solutions to real world challenges.” A hackathon is an intensive teamwork for a set amount of time, usually a day or two, to build something new, like an app, website, or software tool. It’s an exciting way for tech and coding enthusiasts to innovate, learn, and create something useful. Inaugurating the event, NIT Rourkela Director K Umamaheshwar Rao said, “The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) with the advancements in 5G and the upcoming 6G technologies are opening up new avenues for students to address societal problems more effectively and efficiently. I am delighted to know that more than 3,000 students registered for the event demonstrating their eagerness to drive change through coding, programming or relevant tech skills.” Ritvi Mishra, Major League Hacking (MLH) Coach, and Gulam Mohiuddin, software engineer at ORKES were the jury for this edition of the hackathon and also mentored the participants throughout. The closing ceremony of this event was held Sunday at 5.30 pm at BB Auditorium. This year the hackathon touched upon six topics — EdTech, Health and Fitness Tech, Climate and Sustainability, FinTech, Business Tools and Solutions, and Open Innovation. Participants engaged in solving real-world problems within these domains, leveraging their programming, design, AI algorithms, and tech competencies to develop innovative solutions.