Ashoka University Announces RedBrick Hacks 2023 Hackathon: Igniting Sustainable and Assistive Innovations for India
Mumbai : Ashoka University today announced RedBrick Hacks 2023, its annual 24-hour hackathon, slated for August 12th and 13th. Upholding the tradition of fostering innovation, diversity and creativity, this year’s event will have the central theme of ‘Sustainable/Assistive Technology for a Better India’. The event will bring together undergraduate students from diverse academic disciplines and backgrounds across India, providing them with a platform to showcase their skills to generate solutions in fields such as environmental sustainability, healthcare accessibility, inclusive education, smart agriculture, urban planning, and digital empowerment. Participants will be encouraged to collaborate and develop innovative, technology-driven solutions that have the potential to make a significant impact on society and contribute to building a better India.
The dynamic 24-hour event commences at 9 AM on August 12th, providing students with a plethora of challenges, workshops, and captivating activities, enriching their learning journey. It is being held in partnership with Mphasis, an Information Technology (IT) solutions provider specializing in cloud and cognitive services. The event will also witness participation from various leading industry professionals, who will guide and mentor students, helping them acquire and apply cutting-edge technologies and skills. Furthermore, students with the best solutions will stand a chance to win from an exciting prize pool.
“RedBrick Hacks is not merely a competition; it is a celebration of creativity, celerity, efficiency, and innovation. The hackathon offers young innovators like you a platform to apply your knowledge and skills to address real-world problems and build tomorrow’s India. Last year’s event offered up numerous amazing solutions, such as an all-in-one software for Coronavirus health management, a crop tracking solution for farmers, and a mental health check-up app. We look forward to seeing the incredible things you’ll all build this year!”, said Debayan Gupta, Assistant Professor of Computer Science.
“We are thrilled to present this edition of the hackathon, purposefully designed to ignite passion for creative problem-solving in young participants from the very start of their academic journey. Our partnership with Ashoka reflects our commitment to empowering students from diverse backgrounds thus creating a platform that provides an enriching learning experience. Through hackathons like this, our endeavor is to instil a sense of responsibility in these young minds, encouraging them to explore ways in which they can contribute to driving positive social change in our country. The chosen theme for this year’s hackathon is truly exceptional, and we are eager to witness the ingenious solutions created by these talented students”, said Srikanth Karra, CHRO of Mphasis.
To encourage the application of technology in everyday use, Mphasis’ CSR arm, Mphasis F1 Foundation supported Ashoka University, to augment its computational capability by setting up the ‘Mphasis Lab for Machine Learning & Computational Thinking (ML2CT). Mphasis, initiated this partnership in 2020 with the creation of the lab for Machine Learning and Computational Thinking at Ashoka University. Nine projects were initiated under the three pillars of Digitization and Society, Health Analytics and Dissemination. Last year, Mphasis expanded its partnership with Ashoka University to establish an interdisciplinary lab for industry-academia engagement on machine learning and computational use cases. The expansion of the lab offered spaces for experiential learning through live projects and hackathons and flexible spaces for industry-academia engagement through lecture series and workshops.
RedBrick Hacks 2023 will feature a unique referral program, a panel of judges comprising both academic and industry experts, and intriguing Easter Eggs throughout the event. The last edition in 2022 witnessed the enthusiastic participation of over 140 students, representing more than 30 institutions from Delhi-NCR and beyond. These talented individuals showcased their exemplary skills and innovative solutions, in areas such as Health & Wellness, Sustainable Growth, and Privacy & SecurityAccomplished industry experts, scholars, and software consultants from esteemed organisations such as IBM, Mphasis, Google, and Twitter graced the occasion as speakers and judges.