Hackathon Mentor - Coastal Innovation Hackathon (CIH) 2026

July 11, 2026

BuildUp Kasaragod × Sahyadri Open Source Community (SOSC)

hackathon mentorship innovation opensource studentinnovation

About this talk

Served as a technical mentor at the 24-hour national-level Coastal Innovation Hackathon, guiding student teams through ideation, architecture, implementation, debugging and solution refinement.

Photo Album

Talk Notes

Overview

Participated as a mentor at the Coastal Innovation Hackathon (CIH) 2026, a 24-hour national-level hackathon organized by BuildUp Kasaragod in collaboration with the Sahyadri Open Source Community (SOSC).

The event brought together talented student innovators from institutions across India to build impactful solutions for real-world challenges through collaboration, innovation, and rapid prototyping.

Responsibilities

Mentored teams throughout the 24-hour hackathon
Guided participants during technical mentor checkpoints
Assisted teams in refining ideas and solution architecture
Helped troubleshoot implementation challenges
Provided feedback on scalability, feasibility, and product design
Encouraged teams to adopt practical engineering approaches

Event Highlights

National-level 24-hour hackathon
₹1,50,000 prize pool
30 participating teams
Three structured mentor checkpoints
Top 10 teams shortlisted for the final presentation
Winning teams presented innovative solutions before judges and industry experts

Areas of Mentorship

Solution architecture
Software engineering best practices
Cloud and AI adoption
Backend development
Product validation
Technical debugging
Presentation strategy

Outcomes

Supported teams in transforming ideas into working prototypes
Assisted participants in overcoming technical challenges within limited time
Encouraged innovation through practical engineering guidance
Contributed to an engaging and collaborative learning environment

Impact

The hackathon showcased the creativity, resilience, and problem-solving abilities of student innovators. Mentoring teams through multiple development checkpoints provided an opportunity to share practical industry experience while helping participants build impactful, scalable, and user-focused solutions under tight deadlines.