Persistent Systems, i4C and Persistent Foundation hosted Smart School Hackathon (SSH) 2020

SSH to develop students’ technical competency and inspire the innovation mindset in gen-next!

Persistent Systems in association with Persistent Foundation & i4C co-organized the pilot edition of Smart School Hackathon (SSH), on Saturday, 18/1/2020. Dr. Unnat Pandit, Program Director at Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Govt of India, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest for the Valedictory Ceremony.

SSH is a distinctive innovation competition that will help identify, develop and nurture the technical skills of school students. 40 teams were shortlisted for the grand finale, based on 100+ ideas received for the 5 problem statements. Over 160 technical prodigies from grades 7, 8 and 9 hailing from 23 schools in Pune, PCMC area and Nashik participated in SSH 2020.

Smart School Hackathon 2020 Highlights:

Persistent Systems Limited, Pune was the official venue for SSH 2020.
Every school had enrolled several teams, each comprising 3 to 4 participants in SSH 2020.
The 5 critical concerns addressed in SSH include topics like water conservation, waste management, cleanliness, noise pollution control & wonder out of waste.
SSH organized pre-event online workshops with industry experts covering topics like IoT, Recycled art, Leadership, Science in daily life, etc. that will help students to prepare for the competition as well as their future careers.
To promote experiential learning and improve conceptual understanding, the Science Activity Centre (SAC) from IISER, Pune, displayed interactive science toys & presented their demonstration for the students on the day of the finale.
Winning teams walked away with attractive prizes for Best Innovative Idea, Best Team and many more at the grand finale.

Mrs. Sonali Deshpande, Chairman, Persistent Foundation and Educationalist

“I am extremely proud to be associated with the Smart School Hackathon initiative. What impressed me most about SSH’s model was its self-exploratory and heuristic approach towards learning and problem solving – the ability to seek solutions on their own will benefit the students in their future technical careers.

I am positive that while the students were working together on the problem statements, this activity has also helped them imbibe valuable and essential life lessons like team work, decision making, trouble shooting, critical and creative thinking, interpersonal relations and communication that will help to shape and strengthen their personality. I must also thank the school management, principals, teachers and parents of these students, for motivating and guiding them to design innovative solutions. I look forward to seeing students from all parts of India participate in Smart School Hackathon next year.”

Mr. Vivek Kulkarni, Delivery Head & Chief Architect, Persistent LABS, Persistent Systems and Secretary, Executive Council, i4C

“We have always believed in encouraging a culture of innovative thinking and inspiring path-breaking ideas. Like Smart India Hackathon, a unique initiative, Smart School Hackathon, too draws inspiration from our ideology of creating technical leaders of tomorrow. For India to remain at the forefront of Global technical leadership, we must seed innovative thinking in young minds from the school level itself.

I went through all the ideas submitted by the students, I was impressed by the level of technical awareness and know-how these school students have at a young age. It has been exciting experience to see how students between the age group of 11-14 years put on their thinking hats and tackle these problem statements in an innovative and disruptive manner. “

Dr. Unnat Pandit, Program Director at Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Govt of India

“Witnessing the Smart School Hackathon unfold and watching these school students come up with innovative ideas has been a refreshing experience. Competitions like Smart School Hackathon encourage students to work together on issues outside their regular curriculum and broadens their horizons in terms of the latest technology and industry expectations.

Honorable late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam always believed that children should be encouraged to express themselves creatively, allowed to take risks and innovate, this will help them become better people that the society actually needs. Today because of platforms like Smart School Hackathon, these students have learnt how to turn challenges into opportunities, tomorrow they will become leaders and drive exponential technical growth for India. I would love to see how this platform expands and students from the remotest corners of India participate and benefit from the Smart School Hackathon initiative.”

While this year’s SSH is limited to Maharashtra, the organizers have plans to take this competition to the remotest corners of the country and provide advanced learning and development opportunities to students with technical acumen. Looking at the overwhelming participation and interest in SSH 2020, the organizers are also planning to undertake many such innovative initiatives to encourage high-potential ideas among schools and college students that can have commercial viability and applicability for the benefit of society at large.