I Won First Place in 3 Hackathons — Some Takeaways

From 2019–2020, as an undergraduate student, I participated in around 7 Hackathons and managed to get first prize for 3 of them (an a couple of 2nd or 3rd prizes). This article was not written so I can flex my achievements, but more so to share what I’ve learnt from my experiences, and to potentially help those who are new to this increase their chances of winning.

Disclaimer: I participated in these hackathons in person before we got a slap in the face by COVID-19 — Hackathons during this period are probably online so they might operate slightly differently.

A Quick Summary of the 3 Hackathons

1) Linde Siemens Connected Safety Challenge 2019

The problem statement: workers in gas plants need to be safer

Team: Me, 2 friends and 2 Indian dudes we found there

Our solution: A 3-pronged approach —

• IOT Safety Helmet with integrated camera vision to monitor workers
• Reward system to incentivise workers for safety-promoting behaviour
• A system to automate tedious work permit application processes at gas plants stored on a blockchain (Looking back, I have no idea how this was relevant at all but yea)