The Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Sagar Group of Institutions - SISTec Ratibad recently hosted the 24-hour SISTec Innovation Hackathon 2.0 (SIH-2.0) under the banner of the Computer Society of India Students Chapter SISTec-R Bhopal. The event aimed to provide a platform for students to address real-world challenges faced by government departments, industries, and individuals, fostering a culture of innovation and problem-solving.

The prestigious event was inaugurated by Chairman Sagar Group, Shri Sudhir Agrawal, with Chief Guest Mr. Saurabh Mishra, Associate Vice President of Lumenore. Mr. Dwarika Singh attended as the guest of honor, while Mr. Nikhil Dubey and Mr. Rajeev Shrivastava, a senior member of the CSI Bhopal Chapter, were present as special guests.

Over 70 teams, comprising 350 students from esteemed institutes like Vellore Institute of Technology, AMITY Noida, and IIIT Bhopal, participated in the final round of SIH-2.0. The hackathon focused on themes like HealthTech, AgriTech, EduTech, Law & Order, Security, Smart City, and Environment & Climate.

The culmination of the event featured a Prize Distribution and Valedictory Function graced by esteemed guests including Chief Guest Mr. Amrit Meena, AIG MP Police, and Guest of Honour Mr. Yogesh Khakre, COO B-Nest. Special Guests included Mr. Kavindra Raghuwansh, Founding Member of The Kabadiwala, and Ms. Apoorva Tiwari, Consultant with Grant Thornton.

Following a rigorous three-round evaluation by experts from renowned organizations like MPSEDC, ITSC Technologies, DRMZ Tech, Kuava Technologies, MP Police, and the Cyber Cell of MP, the winners were announced. Team Dev TechFarmSolvers secured the third position, followed by Team GreyTech in second. A tie for the first position resulted in two SISTec-R teams sharing the top honors. All winning teams received cash prizes, with the first-place teams receiving Rs. 25,000 each. Additionally, Mr. Yogesh Khakre generously offered a free incubation seat at the B-Nest Incubation Center at Bhopal Smart City office premises to a winner of SIH-2.0.

SISTec Innovation Hackathon was organized under the banner of the Computer Society of India (CSI) Student Chapter in association with Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), B-Nest Incubation Center Bhopal, DRMZTWD, and supported by Madhya Pradesh Police, Madhya Pradesh Cyber Police, ITSC Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Institution's Innovation Council (IIC SISTec-R).

The inaugural ceremony of the Hackathon witnessed the presence of Chief Guest Dr. Sunil Kumar Gupta (Vice-Chancellor, RGPV Bhopal) along with Guest of Honors Mr. Shailendra Singh Chouhan (ADCP Crime Branch Bhopal), Mr. Yogesh Khakre (COO Bhopal Smart City Ltd.), Mr. Sudesh Morey (Director DRMZ Tech), and Dr. Shikha Agrawal (Director, T&P, RGPV Bhopal).

Around 35 teams from various colleges participated in this nationwide initiative to provide a platform for students to solve some of the problems faced by various government departments, industries, and people daily. They were given certain problem statements on the themes of AgriTech, Cyber Security, EduTech, Health Tech, Internet of Things, Police Force Engagement, Robotics, and Social Media. The hackathon went on for 24+ hours and the teams were judged and given various tasks related to their problem statements and they had to find optimal solutions. The hackathon surely encouraged out-of-the-box thinking among the budding engineers.

The Hackathon came to a close with a grand prize distribution ceremony. The event was graced by the presence of Dr. Vineet Kapoor, Deputy Commissioner of Police in Bhopal, who distributed the prizes to the top three winners. Also in attendance were Mr. Yogesh Khakre, COO of Bhopal Smart City Ltd., and Mr. Sudesh Morey, MD of DRMZ System Innovations Pvt. Ltd.

The esteemed judges for the event were Mr. Morey and Dr. Vijay Bhaskar, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at MANIT Bhopal.

The third prize of ₹15,000/- was awarded to Team Future Farmers from LNCT, while Team Dev Dream from SAGE University secured the second prize of ₹20,000/-. The first prize of ₹25,000/- was claimed by Team Matrix Mavericks from SISTec-R.

Overall, the event was a huge success, showcasing the innovative and creative talents of the participants.
 

An Extension Lecture on the topic, "Towards Connected and Safe Autonomous Vehicle" was organized under the banner of the Computer Society of India (CSI) Student Chapter.

The expert speaker for this session was Prof. Aviral Shrivastava from the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University, where he established and heads the Make Programming Simple Lab.

During his session, he briefed about autonomous vehicles and their future role in society. He also talked about the challenges, opportunities, and job opportunities in this domain and answered relevant students' queries. He also interacted with the students and faculty members and saw the projects developed by them during his departmental visit.