Overview
On July 8, 2026, Chandigarh University in Punjab organized ‘AI Nexus 2026’, a 24‑hour national‑level hackathon themed “AI for Intelligent Systems & Responsible Innovation”. The two‑day event was inaugurated by Dr Sandeep Srivastava (Director, Meander Software Private Limited), Mansvi Pal (Associate Vice President, Xebia), Richa Thakur (HR Business Partner, Softobiz), Vice‑Chancellor Prof (Dr) Raviraja N Seetharam, and Prof (Dr) Raghuveer VR (Pro‑VC Academics).
Participation and Selection
A total of 70 teams were selected from more than 650 applicants, representing 43 higher‑education institutions across 11 states and union territories (Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Chandigarh). Twenty of the teams were from Chandigarh University itself; the remaining 50 came from institutions such as Panjab University, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, IIT Patna, Medhavi Skills University, JC Bose University, The NorthCap University, Lingaya’s Vidyapeeth, ADGITM Delhi, KCC Institute, Baddi University, College of Engineering Roorkee, State Institute of Engineering and Technology Nilokheri, Rayat Bahra University, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University, ABESIT Ghaziabad, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, and Chitkara University (both Punjab and Himachal campuses). These teams competed in the grand finale.
Prizes and Winners
The hackathon offered a prize pool of Rs 16.5 lakh along with exclusive goodies. The first‑place award was secured by a team from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET), Patiala, named “Fairsight AI”. The second‑place prize went to Chandigarh University’s own team “Vandalizers”, and the third‑place prize was claimed by Amity University (Punjab) team “Rasta”.
International Evaluation Panel
The final evaluation round was judged by more than 20 international experts from US‑based organisations, including Tofayel Ahmed Onik (University of Potomac), Manish Kumar Abhay Singh (Mphasis Corporation USA), Amol M Khadge (MSR Technology Group), Kranti Kumar Thota (Meta USA), Sayan Bishnu (Akamai Technologies LLC), and Shailesh Sayarmal Chaudhary (Amazon Web Services).
Technical Sponsorship and Additional Competition
SAS acted as the technical sponsor for the hackathon. In parallel, the event featured “ByteHunt”, an AI‑powered technical treasure‑hunt that involved 20 teams from Chandigarh University. The ByteHunt first‑place winner was the team “Runtime Error”, second place went to “Ascenters”, and third place to “Trishul”.
Institutional Statements
Deepinder Singh Sandhu, Senior Managing Director of Chandigarh University, emphasized that the university’s research‑intensive, innovation‑driven model aims to bridge the skill gap in emerging technologies and provide experiential learning beyond traditional classroom methods. He highlighted that the hackathon aligns with the AI DevSummit and focuses on emerging AI trends such as generative AI, intelligent agents, multimodal systems, AI ethics, automation, and real‑time decision intelligence.
Vice‑Chancellor Prof (Dr) Raviraja N Seetharam reiterated that Chandigarh University has launched an AI Mission comprising seven missions and 21 initiatives covering teaching, research, internationalisation, societal impact, and campus operations. He noted that AI Nexus 2026 serves as a hub for innovation, collaboration, and transformative ideas ahead of the AI DevSummit later in the year.
University Profile
Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+‑graded, QS‑world‑ranked autonomous institution approved by the UGC. It offers more than 109 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and other fields. The university has been recognised as “The University with Best Placements” by WCRC.
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