Xavier School of Engineering and Technology (XSET) at St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK), organised a seminar titled “From Spark to Finish Line: Your First Hackathon Starts Here” on September 26, 2026 to familiarise students with the fundamentals of hackathons and innovative problem-solving.

Dr. Diganta Sengupta, Associate Professor at Heritage Institute of Technology, conducted the session for students of Computer Science and Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Electronics and Communication Engineering, and Information Technology.

Dr. Sengupta explained that a hackathon is a time-bound problem-solving sprint rather than merely a coding competition. He highlighted the importance of teamwork and explained six key roles in a successful team—lead, backend, frontend, ML/data or hardware, designer and presenter. He also discussed opportunities offered by major hackathons such as Smart India Hackathon, Flipkart GRiD, Amazon HackOn and Goldman Sachs India Hackathon.

Dr. Sengupta elaborated on the Smart India Hackathon format, team composition, internal selection process and the 36-hour finale. He also guided students through a structured 10-step approach to developing solutions, while highlighting effective team selection, ideation and common reasons for failure.

The seminar concluded with interactive exercises, including problem-statement analysis and a “Six in Fifteen” ideation-and-pitch challenge. An interactive question-and-answer session further clarified students’ queries. 

Dr. Avijit Mondal.