Painting the success journey of Coders United in Smart India Hackathon 2019 - By Amol Sawant from TSEC Mumbai

The national-level Smart India Hackathon 2019 competition started with the identification of one problem statement from over 500 pressing problems. The challenge was to provide a real-time solution to the problem. With more than 100 teams competing for the same problem statement, we were highly strung about the selection of our prototype.

Rise to the challenge

After brainstorming all problem statements, we initially selected ten problems under which we could identify the shortcomings. It was then we finalised one problem statement that had the maximum range of distinctive ideas. It took about a month to us to build the prototype, as one of the biggest challenges we faced was lack of knowledge about the technologies to be used. When stuck in such situations, who can be your best mentors other than your professors? Not only did they guide us on to the technologies, but also taught us methods to grasp them in a short period of time.

Turn the table moments 

We were one of the top three teams that entered the finale of Smart India Hackathon 2019; along with teams from IIT Delhi. The competition was tough because we had no clue what USPs our competitors had. We lost all hope when the judges gave harsh remarks to us in the first round. But with rebuilding faith in ourselves, we sat and coded for hours till each one did the best. And guess what? We reversed our opponent's position.

Coming out on top

Finally, the long-awaited day came. We could feel our hearts palpitate while judges declared winners of every problem statement. Reliving that moment when Coders United was announced as winners of the chosen problem statement pours in a great sense of pride even today. The victory made us reach cloud nine. From choosing the problem to finding out the solution and developing it, was indeed a wonderful journey.

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