All updates, announcements, Q&A, and mentor support will be shared exclusively in our official WhatsApp community — joining is mandatory for all registered participants.

👉 Join here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/FGS2jlqbEEZEysEkuKLS47

All times in IST.

• Open to all students and early-career professionals across India — undergraduate, postgraduate, and recent graduates.
• Team size: exactly 4 members (fixed — no smaller or larger teams accepted).
• Every team must include at least 1 female participant. Teams not meeting this at registration are not eligible to compete.
• Each team registers once and selects one track (AI/ML, DevOps & Cloud, or Cybersecurity) and one problem statement from that track at registration.
• Team composition is locked once Round 1 (PPT) is submitted — no swapping members after that point.
• Each participant may be part of only one team for the duration of the event.
• All registered teams must join the official WhatsApp community (link above) — this is the sole channel for round announcements, deadlines, and mentor support.
• All code must be written during the official Round 2 coding window (26 Sept, 5:30 PM – 27 Sept, 12:00 PM). Projects substantially built before this window will be disqualified.
• Refinements made during the Final Refinement Window (28 Sept) must build on the original Round 2 submission — not a new project.
• Women in Tech Award eligibility: Open only to all-women teams (all 4 members female).
• Organizers, judges, and mentors (and their immediate teams/companies) are not eligible to participate.

Round 1 — PPT Submission (26 Sept, 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• A pitch deck (PPT/PDF, max 8 slides) covering: problem understanding, proposed solution approach, high-level architecture/tech stack, and expected impact/feasibility.
• No code required at this stage.

Round 2 — Coding Sprint (26 Sept, 5:30 PM – 27 Sept, 12:00 PM)

• Public GitHub repository with all code committed within the coding window (commit history will be checked — code committed outside this window will be flagged).
• Clear README: setup instructions, tech stack, and how the submission addresses the chosen problem statement.

Live Demo & Technical Evaluation (27 Sept, 12:00 PM – 28 Sept, 1:00 AM)

• A demo video (max 10 minutes) showing the working project.
• Teams may be asked for a live walkthrough with evaluators during this window — availability during this period is expected.

Top 20 — Final Refinement Window (28 Sept, 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM)

• Teams may improve/polish their existing Round 2 submission (bug fixes, UI polish, added functionality) — must remain the same core project and problem statement.
• Updated repo + updated README reflecting changes made during this window.

Final Demo & PPT Presentation (28 Sept, after 6:00 PM)

• Final demo video and updated pitch deck reflecting the refined build.
• Live presentation/Q&A session with final judges.

Disqualification triggers:

• Incomplete submissions at any stage deadline (missing repo, video, or deck)
• Code committed outside the official Round 2 coding window
• Plagiarized or undisclosed pre-existing code
• Submission that doesn't address the selected problem statement
• Team not meeting the 4-member / 1-female-minimum requirement

Total prize pool: $850, plus internship offers for the best teams.

All Top 20 teams receive certificates of achievement; all registered participants receive certificates of participation.

Round 1 — Pitch & Approach (PPT) — determines the 80% who advance
Scored out of 100:

• Problem understanding & relevance to PS (25)
• Feasibility of proposed approach (25)
• Technical soundness of architecture direction (25)
• Clarity & communication (25)

Bottom 20% by score are not advanced to the coding round.

Live Demo & Technical Evaluation — determines the Top 20
Scored out of 100:

• Technical execution & code quality (30)
• Architecture correctness & justification of tech choices (25)
• Handling of constraints/edge cases specific to the PS (25)
• Demo quality & clarity (20)

Final Demo & PPT Presentation — determines final placements
Scored out of 100:

• Improvement/refinement quality from Round 2 (20)
• Technical execution & completeness (25)
• Innovation & problem-solving depth (20)
• Real-world impact & feasibility (15)
• Live demo & Q&A performance (20)

Winner selection: Final-round scores determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place overall. Ties are broken using the Live Demo & Technical Evaluation score.

Women in Tech Award: Awarded to the highest-scoring all-women team (Final Round rubric), independent of their overall placement. An all-women team can win both an overall placement and the Women in Tech Award if they qualify for both.