Bhubaneswar, 22 May 2026: The four-day “Hack to the Future 3.0 – Odisha Edition” program organized at IIT Bhubaneswar concluded today. Organized based on the theme “Shaping Futures, Young People Solving, Learning and Exploring Emerging Technologies”, students of government secondary schools from various districts of Odisha participated in this program and prepared new projects through their creativity and innovative thinking.
This hackathon program was organized by Quest Alliance and IIT Bhubaneswar in collaboration with Panchasakha Shiksha Setu Organization for four days at IIT Bhubaneswar. The best projects prepared by students from various districts in the Skill Course under the Aspirational Course, with emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computational Thinking, were included in the Hackathon. A total of 64 students participated and prepared advanced and unique projects on various subjects.
On the first day, the students were given practical training on digital innovation and problem-solving based learning. Along with learning new skills, the students were able to strengthen their creativity through group discussions, mentoring sessions, research and project development. On the second day, the students identified the remaining problems in their projects through the “5 Why” Root Cause Analysis process and worked on solutions. Along with this, sessions on future impact of artificial intelligence, data analysis and case study were also organized. In the hackathon, students presented various innovative projects based on topics like environmental protection, child safety and social awareness.
In the closing ceremony, Director of Higher Secondary Education Smt. Niyati Patnaik, Joint Director of Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya Sanghasan Smt. Moushumi Sahu, Gajapati District Education Officer Dr. Mayadhar Sahu, Cuttack District Education Officer Shri Nityanand Barik, PSSS Officer Shri Tapas Kumar BC were present as guests. The guests present said that such hackathon is a good opportunity for students to develop future-oriented skills. State Head of Quest Alliance School Program Smt. Yuveka Singh was a prominent present at the program.
Preventing Child Marriage – “Udaan”
Students are not only in education, but also in understanding the problems of the society and finding solutions to them. To prevent sensitive social issues like child marriage and create awareness among girls and create a bright future for them, Ganjam district 10th class students Aarti Pradhan, Suite Pradhan and Rudra Pratap Sahu have jointly developed the mobile app “UDAAN”. UDAAN is not just an app, it is an effort by students for the protection, awareness and empowerment of girls.
The UDAAN app has 6 sections – Awareness, Parental Advice, Government Schemes for Girl Child, Rights and Law, Support and Success Stories. Each section of this app has a unique approach. By pressing the Awareness button, there is various types of awareness content regarding girl child marriage. Similarly, in Parental Advice, students have made many arrangements to make parents aware. The most important thing is that by pressing the Help and Support button, there are various NGOs and government help numbers for girl child protection. This will allow them to be alerted easily. As a result, if any child is facing such a situation, he can immediately protect himself and seek help through this app.
Forest protection will be created – “Forest Fire Detection”
When a forest catches fire, hundreds of trees and animals are burnt in that fire. Lakhs of rupees are also lost and it poses a threat to nature. But to avoid such disasters, three 10th grade students from Kalahandi district, Sonia Bagh, Swati Bachha and Mamashree Sahu, have created an innovative project called “Forest Fire Detection”. Keeping in mind how forests in districts like Kalahandi can be protected from fire, the students have prepared such a website and mobile application. Their efforts in finding new solutions to social and environmental problems are unique.
The three students have designed a web and mobile application under this project, which can detect the possibility of forest fires in advance. It can directly identify where in the forest there is a possibility of fire or will occur. Immediately after detection, an alert will also be sent to the relevant person through WhatsApp, so that quick steps can be taken to avoid it.
This innovative thinking of the students will not only help in protecting the forest, but will also play an important role in saving wildlife and the environment. This effort of the youth towards environmental protection using technology is an inspiration for others.
