“If you look at history, innovation doesn’t come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect. “
As our world and civilization evolve, technical developments and innovations become increasingly vital in order to keep up with the rapid pace of change. I’ve always wanted to make something new or innovate anything, but I’ve never had the chance to do so. However, when I arrived at Sushant University, one of the best private universities in India I was given this opportunity.
In December, I learned of an opportunity to participate in the Smart India Hackathon, which is an annual hackathon hosted by the Indian government. A hackathon is a competition in which multiple teams compete to create a software product based on a problem statement. So as soon as I found out about it, I was ecstatic and formed a team consisting of my classmates. But that was only the beginning. The most challenging and perplexing part for us was deciding on the issue statement because it was our first hackathon and we had no idea which project would be best for us. We chose our problem statement after much deliberation and consultation with several professors and seniors which was: An AI/ML based solution for flagging of false information related to the Union Government on online platforms, including social media platforms. Such a system may utilize the authentic information available through official sources such as documents, press releases, etc.
We chose this topic because we felt it would be a fantastic learning experience for us, and it would help us learn new technologies and network with like-minded individuals even if we didn’t qualify. We had to learn about the technology involved in our issue now that we had chosen it, and we had to divide the work between our team. The Internal Round of Hackathon, which was hosted inside the institution, was the next hurdle that we had to clear after all of this.
For this stage, we had to make a presentation and describe our project to the jury members, as well as how we plan to finish it. This was the most essential round because we needed to qualify in order to take our project forward. We put in a lot of effort into the presentation, and we were very proud of it. Finally, the big day arrived, and there were a lot of teams with fantastic projects and presentations. We were initially terrified by the fact that we were the only freshmen present, but we gathered our courage and believed in our mission and vision. After all the hassle and numerous presentations, we were also anxious for the results, and we knew deep down that we had qualified.
THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED, AND WE HAVE QUALIFIED!! At the same time, we were delighted and worried about the next rounds. We now have 3-4 months to complete this project, and we are always working on it and learning new things along the way, and we are interested to see how it ends out.
Finally, even if we do not qualify for future rounds, I would like to state that we will be satisfied with all we have learned thus far and will continue working on the project since a competition should not deter our desire to develop for the sake of society.
Harsh Kedia (Ist Year student)
B.Tech CSE (AI-ML)
School of Engineering and Technology
Sushant University
