Breakpoint Hackathon 2026

About the Hackathon: Everything works - until it doesn't. Find the failure. Build the fix. Breakpoint Hackathon is about challenging you to find something that isn't working as well as it should - a frustrating workflow, inefficient process, outdated product, accessibility gap, or overlooked problem in technology and society. Your mission is simple: identify the breakpoint and build a meaningful improvement. Don't build something just because you can. Find a real problem, understand why the existing system fails, and create a solution that makes it faster, simpler, smarter, safer, or more accessible. From software and AI to healthcare, education, finance, transportation, and everyday life - the breakpoint is yours to find. Tracks: AI & Intelligent Systems Software & Developer Tools Healthcare & Wellbeing Education & Learning Finance & Commerce Social Impact & Accessibility Mobility & Urban Systems Open Innovation Why Participate? Solve a real-world problem. Build something with practical impact. Challenge existing systems and conventional thinking. Work with technology across any domain. Showcase your engineering and problem-solving skills. Turn a frustrating experience into a working solution. The winning project isn't necessarily the most complicated one. It's the one that finds a meaningful breakpoint and creates the most compelling solution around it. Eligibility: Students. Software developers. Engineers. Researchers. Professionals. Open-source contributors. Anyone interested in software engineering, from any country. Team Size: 1 - 4 members Event Format: Round 1 - Idea Submission Identify a real-world breakpoint - a weakness, inefficiency, bottleneck, or failure in an existing system. Submit a short PPT presentation covering: Slide 1 - The project Title/Theme, Team Name and members. Slide 2 - The existing system or problem. Slide 3 - The specific breakpoint you identified. Slide 4 - Who is affected and why it matters. Slide 5 - Your proposed solution. Slide 6 - How It Works Slide 7 - How your solution improves the existing system. Slide 8 - Basic implementation approach. The strongest and most promising ideas will advance to the final round. Round 2 - Final Submission Shortlisted teams will turn their idea into a working solution or functional prototype. Final submissions will include: Working project/prototype. GitHub repository. Final presentation. Live demonstration. Brief documentation explaining the problem, solution, and implementation. Teams will present their solution to the judging panel and demonstrate how effectively they have moved from identifying a breakpoint to building a better system. Rules and Guidelines: Team size must be 1 - 4 members. Solo participation is allowed. Teams of 2–3 are recommended. Cross-college teams are allowed. Cross-disciplinary teams are allowed. Participants must adhere to the event timeline and submit their solutions before the deadline. Any form of plagiarism, copied projects, pre-built submissions or unfair practice will result in disqualification. Teams must clearly present their solution, approach, and impact during the final evaluation. The decision of the judges will be final and binding. AI tools and coding assistants are allowed. Judging Criteria: Round 1 – Idea Evaluation: Problem Identification & Breakpoint – 25% Innovation & Originality – 20% Problem-Solution Fit – 20% Impact & Improvement Potential – 15% Feasibility & Implementation Approach – 10% Idea Explanation & Clarity – 10% Round 2 – Final Evaluation: Breakpoint Understanding & Problem Depth – 15% Solution Effectiveness & Improvement – 25% Technical Implementation & Functionality – 20% Innovation & Originality – 15% User Experience & Usability – 10% Demo & Presentation – 15% Rewards: Top-performing teams will receive: Winner/Runner Up Certificates for top 3 teams. Certificates of Merit for top 10 teams. Internship & Networking Opportunities. Participation Certificates for all eligible participants. Open Source Recognition.