Rethink 26

Hackathon Overview: Host Institution: Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi. Organizing Body: MACSTAK (Department of Computer Science). Core Objective: Foster technological innovation, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and production-ready prototype engineering. Competition Structure: Round 1 (Online): Pitch deck submission based on the selected problem statement. Round 2 (Offline): In-person prototyping, live build, and technical jury defense. Eligibility & Participation Rules: Team Size: Exactly 2 to 5 members per team. Individual entries or teams outside this range will be disqualified. Academic Standing: Open to actively enrolled university and college students. Inter-college teams are permitted. Team Capacity: Limited to a maximum of 30 teams across all verticals. Registration: Early form submission is strongly advised; registration closes automatically once 30 teams are confirmed. Important Dates & Operational Schedule: Round 1 Submission Deadline: 5 October 2026 | By 05:30 PM | Submit 10-15-slide pitch deck (PDF) via the designated Google Form. Shortlist Announcement: 5 October 2026 | By 08:00 PM | Top 30 teams notified via registered email. Round 2 Reporting & Entry: 7 October 2026 | 09:30 AM – 10:30 AM | In-person reporting, ID verification, and entry/workstation setup. Prototyping Window: 7 October 2026 | 10:30 AM – 01:30 PM | On-campus coding and prototype finalization. Product Showcase & Defense: 7 October 2026 | 01:30 PM – 02:40 PM | Live product demonstration and jury cross-examination. Validity & Awards: 7 October 2026 | 02:40 PM – 03:00 PM | Announcement of vertical winners and certificate distribution. Event Day: Entry: 09:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Event: 10:00 AM – 03:00 PM | 7 October 2026 Round 1: Online Pitch Deck Submission: Format: Single PDF file, maximum 10 slides, under 25 MB, in 16:9 widescreen format. Submission Portal: Unstop File Naming Standard: [Vertical]_[TeamName]_ReThink26.pdf Round 2: Offline Prototyping & Live Showcase: Event Date & Time: 7 October 2026 | Entry: 09:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Event: 10:00 AM – 03:00 PM. Venue: Maharaja Agrasen College, Vasundhara Enclave, Delhi 110096. Location Code: Plus Code: J83C+5R8, Ganpati Mandir Marg, Vasundhara Enclave. Connectivity: Accessible via New Ashok Nagar / Noida Sector 15 (Blue Line) and Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake (Pink Line) metro stations. Infrastructure Provided: Workspaces, campus Wi-Fi, and standard power outlets. Hardware Obligations: Teams must carry their own laptops, chargers, surge extension strips, and backup mobile internet hotspots. ON-SITE BUILD RULE: Core software logic must be built on site. Standard libraries, frameworks, APIs, and development tools may be used only where permitted by the organizers; teams must not submit a pre-built project as the hackathon solution. Demonstration & Evaluation Format: Live Demo: 7 Minutes | Working execution of features, data workflows, and user interface. Jury Q&A: 3 Minutes | Technical cross-examination regarding codebase, architecture, and edge cases. Mandatory Deliverable: Working product demo, public code repository link, and README.md setup file. The repository link must be available for jury review during the showcase. Problem Verticals: Teams must choose exactly one vertical for both rounds. VERTICAL 1 Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI/ML): Computer vision, predictive intelligence, neural systems, and automated agent pipelines. VERTICAL 2 App Development: Android/iOS or cross-platform applications, mobile-first experiences, and app-based solutions. VERTICAL 3 Web Development: Scalable full-stack platforms, cloud-native services, secure APIs, and responsive interfaces. Code of Conduct & Integrity: Originality: All submissions and code must be the original intellectual work of team members. Plagiarism: Direct copying of complete open-source projects or pre-built proprietary code results in immediate disqualification. Decorum: Professional respect toward peers, mentors, and staff is mandatory at all times. Pre-event Preparation: Teams are advised to complete most of the work before the event and use the 3-hour event window to implement, integrate, test, or improve components that can reasonably be completed within 3 hours. Jury Finality: The evaluation panel's decisions are definitive, absolute, and binding. Infrastructure & Data Security: STRICT PROHIBITION: Any attempt to breach, disrupt, manipulate, probe, or harm Maharaja Agrasen College's official website, web portals, servers, databases, local networks, or physical digital assets is strictly prohibited. Zero Tolerance: Unauthorized penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, data scraping, credential harvesting, or denial-of-service (DoS) attempts against college or host infrastructure will result in immediate team disqualification. Disciplinary & Legal Recourse: Offending individuals and teams may face permanent bans from future institutional events, formal reporting to their respective college authorities for disciplinary action, and potential referral to cyber law enforcement under relevant statutory provisions. Prizes & Accolades: Prizes are awarded independently across each of the three technical verticals. Recognition Award: Winner (1st Place) 1 per vertical ₹2000 Cash Prize + Certificate of Merit Build thoughtfully. Solve meaningfully. Defend confidently. Join WhatsApp Group for further information: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DGVxlO3yiJC3vDCwIB3vaj