The much-anticipated conclusion of the Hult Prize 2024 unfolded at the Entrance Cafe on February 17, 2024 (Falgun 7, 2080). In an atmosphere brimming with anticipation and brilliance, students from the Pulchowk Campus exhibited their extraordinary ingenuity, presenting many innovative solutions to tackle urgent global challenges.
As usual, the event began with the welcome of our esteemed guests and judges. It was followed by the strong speech of our campus director, Mr Aditya Pandey, who thanked all the participants and members involved in this beautiful journey of the Hult Prize.
To impartially evaluate participants' ideas, highly qualified judges with expertise in relevant fields were invited, including Nirdesh Dwa (founder of Veda app), Ashish Thakur (Chairman & Executive Director at Glocal Pvt. Ltd.), Barun Pandey (co-founder at Naamche), and Dr. Sareesha Shrestha (Founder at The Shahayatri and TU gold medalist).
The finalists presented the following innovative concepts:
- EnerVision: An IoT-integrated app encouraging technological agriculture among farmers through AI chatbots for precise and efficient suggestions.
- Drishya: Glasses capable of image recognition, transforming texts and distance to audio that will have a significant impact on blind people
- Park-E: Acting as a mediator between vehicle owners and unused private property owners, enhancing the systematic nature of the parking system.
- BananaFiber: Utilizing banana fiber to produce sanitary products, with by-products repurposed for clothing, accessories, paper, etc.
- Hawkeye: Integrating innovative AI models into CCTV cameras at traffic light junctions.
The participants presented numerous other compelling ideas. As anticipated, the competition was a close battle, and after thorough collaborative deliberation by the judges, Drishya emerged as the winner of the Hult Prize 2024. Similarly, Hawkeye secured the first runner-up position, and YONKO claimed the second runner-up spot. Drishya is now set to compete at the regional level.
Towards the conclusion, Nirdesh Dwa shared valuable insights on participants' mistakes and suggested improvements. This not only fueled the audience's eagerness to present even better ideas in the next year's event but also acknowledged that each presentation showcased students' intellect and unwavering commitment to effecting positive global change.
