“Triumph at SheHacks 7.0"

IIIT-A's prestigious women-only tech event, SheHacks, recently hosted its 7.0 edition, a 36-hour online hackathon devoted to empowering female developers and coding enthusiasts. I'm thrilled to share that my team, "Amalgamatorsz," emerged victorious in this exciting competition!

This marked a triple first for me: my first online hackathon, my first 36-hour hackathon, and my first all-women hackathon experience. As Srishti, my junior teammate, and I were geographically separated (she attended college in Greater Noida, while I participated from home in Jhansi), fostering clear communication and coordination was a key priority. Being a newly formed team, we had a lot of ground to cover—learning new things and exploring uncharted territory together.

The entire setup, including communication and presentations, took place on Discord. While initially confusing, we quickly adapted and tackled the challenges head-on. The hackathon guidelines emphasized building everything from scratch within the timeframe, necessitating a three-pronged approach:

1. Ideation and Workflow: This involved strategizing our approach and outlining a clear development plan.

2. Implementation: This was the hands-on coding phase, bringing our idea to life.

3. Coordination: With both of us working remotely, we needed seamless coordination to keep up with code updates on GitHub, presentation revisions on Canva, and maintaining our Devfolio dashboard.

The first evaluation was initially scheduled for 3 pm on the 9th, but due to requests from many teams, it was shifted to 6 pm. By this point, we had completed our blockchain-based project's core implementation, presentation slides, and smart contract.

The second evaluation on the 10th involved showcasing our prototype and demo. We're proud to say that we managed to create a simple yet fully functional model for our project.

The mentor round went well but with a surprising twist! Impressed by our project, the mentors requested an additional evaluation at 1.40 pm. By 2 pm, our team had delivered the presentation three times!

Following this, we patiently awaited the completion of all presentations and the announcement of the Top 10 teams, which occurred at 4 pm.

Thrilled to be shortlisted for the finals, we geared up to present our project before the esteemed judges, and professors from IIIT-A.

The evaluation round began at 5 pm, and as a senior teammate, I felt a strong sense of responsibility to ensure a stellar performance. Participating with a first-time hackathon attendee like Srishti added another layer of determination. I was committed to upholding the expectations of the judges and my teammates, parents, and friends who had been cheering us on throughout the night.

We poured our hearts into the final presentation, and the judges were visibly impressed by our concept, research, and overall presentation style.

The remaining team evaluations continued until 7.30 pm.

Finally, at 8 pm, the much-anticipated results were announced: Team Amalgamatorsz declared the winners of the 36-hour hackathon!

Having participated in hackathons before, this victory held a special significance. It instilled a sense of accomplishment, gratitude, and joy—not just for myself but also for fulfilling the expectations of my team, family, and friends who had supported me throughout the journey.

Lessons Learned:

Online hackathons can be challenging, demanding constant vigilance to stay updated on important announcements and updates. However, my experience underscores the importance of believing in your idea, its potential, scalability, and confident presentation. Additionally, thorough research plays a crucial role in the success of any hackathon project.

I'm also delighted to announce that our team has received funding from IIIT-A to develop our winning idea further.

This truly was an unforgettable hackathon experience, filled with memories to cherish!