Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Innovation Cell, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have successfully organised the second edition of the Singapore-India Hackathon, a fast-paced 36-hour competition for students of both countries to collaborate on innovative solutions to real-life challenges in healthcare, education and clean energy.

 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal, and Singapore’s Education Minister Ong Ye Kung presented prizes to the winners of the Singapore-India Hackathon at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

 The top prize of S$10,000 went to Team 10, comprising three students from India and three from Singapore, for their innovative solution to monitor air impurities through an array of sensors installed in a potted plant. Upon detecting high levels of impurities, small fans will automatically switch on to circulate clean air from the base of the plant.

 Another team presented a sustainable and safe solution to prevent accidental usage of used medical syringes, through an automated disposal system that crushes the syringe, and a colour-dye system that turns blue if the syringe had been used.

 Singapore's Minister for Education, Ong Ye Kung, said, "The Singapore-India Hackathon is a good platform for students from both countries to build friendships, share knowledge, exchange ideas and develop smart solutions together to pressing global issues. Such experiences are also becoming part and parcel of modern tertiary education, to fulfil the potential of our youth to make an impact at solving real-life problems.”