In an attempt to provide impetus to research and innovation, the Banaras Hindu University’s (BHU) Atal Incubation Centre held a 24-hour long hackathon that began on Sunday, February 27. Over 60 participants from BHU and other educational institutions joined the initiative and were engaged in knowing the solution to the solid waste management issues.
Professor in-charge of Atal Incubation Centre Prof PV Rajeev and Prof RS Mishra, also the Chief Guest of the event, inaugurated the day-long hackathon. While Chief Executive Officer of the Centre Paritosh Tripathi informed the participants about the event and rules.
The 24-hour long hackathon saw experts delivering training sessions in business planning, design thinking and prototyping. The Founder of Scrapshala, Shikha Shah, held a special session at the start of the event. She took the participants through various aspects of business planning and problem-solving. While Vimal Kumar Jha, Advisor, Urban Development, Government of Nagaland connected with the participants through video conferencing. He shared insights on solid waste management, associated problems and probable solutions. Also, he shared a few special techniques for augmenting solid waste management.
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All the participants were divided into teams of four members each for the event. Each team had to devise and present a solution for a problem statement. The hackathon started with discussions and workshops on the concepts and problems related to solid waste management, design thinking and problem-solving. However, post workshops, the participants were divided into teams of three each. All the teams were assigned a mentor. All were given a problem statement to solve. Prizes worth Rs 5000 have been kept for the winning team with an opportunity to be a part of the Atal Incubation Centre and incubate their ideas.
