- Hack to the Future empowers 57 students from 5 states to design scalable community solutions for climate and gender
- Five-day workshop equips learners with cutting-edge tools AI, IoT, Arduino, and 3D printing
Bengaluru, January 25, 2025:
Innovation is taking center stage as Quest Alliance hosts the much-awaited ‘Hack to the Future: Innovating for Participatory Futures.’ The event is a game-changer designed to inspire school students, educators, and innovators to shape the future of learning and innovation. Happening from January 27-31, 2025, this landmark hackathon will bring together 57 students from five States — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Odisha — to the Quest Learning Observatory, Bengaluru for a five-day residential workshop, supported by mentors and industry leaders. 2025, marks the fifth edition of the hackathon that began in 2021. The hackathon continues to carry forward the mission of encouraging learners to uncover problem-solving methodologies, deep listening, empathizing with people they were solving for, and participating in individual and collective brainstorming sessions, in addition to building a culture of mentorship and continuous learning.
Hack to the Future will allow budding innovators to design, and implement scalable solutions that address issues around climate change and gender. The shortlisted interstate hackathon participants were chosen after a month-long process where they identified personally relevant problems that impacted their community. During the residential workshop, learners will be encouraged to build prototypes that solve their identified problems. Guided by mentors, the learners will work hands-on using advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and sustainable innovation to construct prototype models, enabling them to become agents of change in a fast-changing technological world. The final prototypes will be pitched to a jury and the local community the students hail from. This aligns with the mission of addressing real-world challenges through community-driven innovations.
Namrata Agarwal, Director, Fundraising and Partnerships, Quest Alliance shared “We will be inviting women in STEM to share their career journeys, challenges faced, and how they navigated them. In our experience, having women role models has been inspiring for the students, especially for girls from marginalized communities. Many of these girls aspire for careers, but are unsure how to get there. Role Model Interactions helps them understand that STEM careers are possible and achievable for women — which is essential given the increase in careers in the technology domain.”
Speaking about the 5-day event, Neha pathi, Director, Schools, Quest Alliance, emphasized the hackathon’s immersive approach “Our partner organizations will create an immersive experience with technology and how it is being used for problem-solving. For instance, a group of students is designing a screen and app where people traveling in autos can access information about women’s reproductive health. This prototype is intended to create awareness around menstrual health. Similarly, another group has drawn inspiration from the news about Delhi’s poor air quality and designed a portable air purifier that people can carry with them.”
Tejaswini, a class 9 student at Morarji Desai Residential Schools, S. Hosakote, Mysore confidently elaborates on a prototype, monkey-repellant, her team built “While gathering data to understand the issue, we realized that monkeys invading our hoste/ homes to steal food and clothes wasn’t a local issue. It was a national problem that affected places close to a lot of foliage. This inspired us to build the monkey-repellent. When the machine detects the presence of a monkey it sends off sound frequencies between 45Hz-55Hz. This irritates them and chases them away without causing any harm. .”
Roshan Ara Begum, Tejaswini’s educator observed “The drive to learn, identify problems, and find solutions has increased greatly after the students have participated in the hackathon. The most notable change is among the female learners who are speaking up and taking the initiative to voice their ideas. They have also become better at problem-solving and see the potential in the problem rather than a setback.”
Hack to the Future will change how hackathons inspire and empower communities, with equity, innovation, and collaboration.
