SIAS students Sparsh Makharia, Vatsalya Betala, and Aarav Akali (Cohort 2022-26) secured 2nd place at the prestigious EMPOWER Hackathon, an inter-college competition hosted by IIM Ahmedabad’s Social Innovation Club (IDEOS), Ashoka University’s Social Impact Club (Anitya), and the CS Society of Ashoka University.
The EMPOWER Hackathon: Tech for Social Good brought together students from across India to develop innovative, technology-driven solutions addressing pressing social challenges. Competing against 162 participants, the team showcased exceptional problem-solving, technical expertise, and entrepreneurial thinking, delivering a solution that stood out among the top contenders.
Their project, PlantGuard, is an offline hardware-integrated AI system for real-time plant disease detection. It leverages three AI models to analyse plant health and provides farmers with instant feedback, helping them take timely preventive measures. The Hackathon involved an online round, and a final in-person pitch and prototype demonstration at IIM Ahmedabad, concluding in a podium finish for the team.
This achievement was made possible with the support of Krea University’s Cyber Club, which provided essential hardware components and assisted with transportation to IIM Ahmedabad, ensuring the team could participate and present their solution at the final round.