How to Apply for Grand Hack IPEC — 24-Hour Hackathon for Indian Students

Round 1 — Idea submission (online). Teams file a presentation deck covering the problem they are tackling, their proposed solution, how they intend to implement it, the technology stack they will use and the impact they expect. Entries are assessed on how inventive the idea is, whether it is realistically buildable, and how clearly it is explained.

Round 2 — Shortlisting and mentorship (online). The strongest entries move forward and are paired with mentors from industry who help the teams refine their plans. Dates for this stage are shared once idea submissions close.

Round 3 — Grand finale (offline). Shortlisted teams travel to Inderprastha Engineering College, Ghaziabad, for a 24-hour overnight hackathon on 26–27 September 2026, where they build working prototypes and present them to a panel of experts.

Across the competition, judges weigh originality, the quality of the technical build, how relevant the project is to a real problem, user experience and design, scalability, and the strength of the final presentation.