NEHU Hosts Internal Hackathon for Smart India Hackathon 2026

Previous Next

Shillong, September 7 — The School of Technology at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, organized its internal hackathon on Monday as part of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026. The event saw five teams present innovative, technology-driven solutions addressing pressing real-world challenges.

A total of 30 students—six per team—took part in the competition. Their proposals were evaluated by a panel consisting of Prof. Sirsendu Shekhar Ray, Dr. Pankaj Sarkar, and Dr. Amitabha Nath. The event was coordinated by Dr. Nitin Sahai, the SIH Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for NEHU.

The hackathon commenced with inaugural remarks from. Prof. Dinesh Bhatia, Coordinator Entrepreneurship Development Centre, NEHU Shillong, addressed the gathering, emphasizing the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among young technocrats. He encouraged students to look beyond textbook learning and focus on creating scalable, impactful solutions that can drive economic and social change.

Following him, Prof. Sirsendu Shekhar Ray, Dean (In-charge) of the School of Technology, delivered an inspiring address. He motivated the students to channel their technical expertise toward solving local challenges, particularly those faced by the communities in the North-Eastern region. He stressed that innovation rooted in ground-level realities not only solves immediate problems but also builds a culture of self-reliance and regional development.

The participating teams showcased a diverse range of projects:

• The Starlings introduced NEXUS, an AI-powered environmental monitoring network designed for early detection and actionable alerts regarding environmental hazards. The system follows a five-stage framework—Measure, Fuse, Predict, Assess, and Prepare—to convert localized sensor data and external inputs into predictive and interpretable risk scores.
• Team URX presented Setu, an AI-driven logistics and accessibility platform tailored to the difficult terrain of Northeast India. The solution provides real-time updates on transit corridor conditions, helping mitigate disruptions caused by landslides and seasonal flooding.
• Aether proposed KANHA, a portable AI-assisted smart farming tool that helps farmers identify crop diseases, pests, nutrient deficiencies, and irrigation needs. It also delivers field-level recommendations even in areas with limited internet connectivity.
• RadioHeads demonstrated a low-latency voice activation system using a hybrid edge-cloud architecture. The system employs on-device TinyML for keyword spotting before offloading audio to the cloud for full speech recognition.
• ZeroBlur put forward DiEye AI, an AI-assisted screening and triage system for diabetic retinopathy using retinal fundus images, with a special focus on rural and underserved healthcare settings.

Teams were assessed on multiple criteria, including problem understanding, solution quality, alignment with problem statements, innovation, technical feasibility, implementation, societal impact, presentation, and overall team strength.

The internal hackathon served as a valuable platform for students to develop and present practical solutions while preparing their ideas for the subsequent rounds of Smart India Hackathon 2026

The program concluded with a heartfelt vote of thanks proposed by Dr. Nitin Sahai. He expressed his gratitude to the university administration, the esteemed panel of judges, the participating students, and the organizing team for their collective efforts in making the internal hackathon a success. He also wished all the teams the very best for the upcoming rounds of Smart India Hackathon 2026.