Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 31 Oct: The School of Technology, Doon University, is holding a two-day “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Coding Hackathon” on the occasion of the 25th Uttarakhand State Foundation Day on 30 and 31 October, which commenced today. The event is part of an ambitious initiative of the Government of Uttarakhand, under which the AI and Coding Hackathon 2025 is being conducted in three stages — university level, regional level, and state level.
The objective of this initiative is to promote technical creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills among youth, encouraging them to develop solutions to real-life challenges through modern technologies.
At the university level, a total of 56 students, divided into 14 teams, are participating to showcase their innovative ideas, coding expertise, and AI-based projects. Participants represent the BTech (Computer Science & Engineering), MTech (Computer Science & Engineering), BSc (Computer Science Honours), and MSc (Computer Science) programmes. The hackathon provides participants an opportunity to design technological solutions on themes such as agriculture, forestry, healthcare, tourism, cybersecurity, education, and digitisation of Indian languages.
The event was jointly inaugurated by Dr Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Technical and Higher Education, Government of Uttarakhand, and Prof Surekha Dangwal, Vice Chancellor, Doon University. The inaugural session witnessed the presence of senior faculty members, research scholars, and students in large numbers.
The programme is being coordinated by Dr Preeti Mishra (Department of Computer Science), while Dr Narendra Kumar, Head of the Department, is supervising the technical arrangements.
Prof Surekha Dangwal stated that, during the hackathon, each team will be required to present its project within the stipulated timeframe. The projects will be evaluated by a jury of experts from reputed organisations such as Microsoft, Bengaluru, and Arcel Software Solutions. Evaluation parameters include problem relevance, effective use of AI and coding, technical innovation, creativity, practicality, implementation strategy, social impact, presentation skills, and teamwork.
The hackathon is not merely a competition but a platform to encourage students to think critically and develop technology-driven solutions to real-life problems. It aims to nurture critical thinking, collaborative learning, and applied technical skills among students.
At the conclusion of the university-level event, the top three teams will be awarded cash prizes and certificates of merit, while all participants will receive certificates of participation. The winning teams will advance to the state-level final hackathon, scheduled to be held in Dehradun from 2 to 9 November.
Dr Ranjit Kumar Sinha highlighted that this initiative aligns with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), which promotes skill-based learning, innovation, industry–academia collaboration, and research-oriented education. The efforts of Doon University are a significant step toward technological empowerment of students, as well as a valuable contribution to the state and nation’s sustainable development and digital transformation.
This initiative is expected to encourage young researchers and technical students of Uttarakhand to develop AI-based innovative technologies that will prove beneficial in fields such as agriculture, healthcare, environment, and education, thereby helping the state become technologically self-reliant and progressive.
The event is being successfully organised with the support of the Organising Committee — Dr Preeti Mishra, Jagdish Giri Goswami, Dr Anuj Kumar, Dr Maheep Singh, Kamini Bhatt, Roopa Kumari, Kamal Rawal, Deepak Dhingan, and Shobha Arya.
