DEV Community: PrajwalUp

Winning Hackathon Ideas

PrajwalUp — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:17:02 +0000

I have been to multiple hackathons over the past couple of years. Inside Kathmandu, outside of valley, online hackathons you name it. Every single time I grabbed my laptop and told myself that this would be the weekend my team finally took home the prize. But it never happened. I stayed up all night for three different hackathons, I drank way too much coffee and still walked away with nothing. It was incredibly frustrating to watch other teams take the prize while we sat there wondering where we went wrong. The food and the experience was good but still would have been the best if we had won. After that, I became deeply curious about what actually wins these competitions. What is the secret ingredient that the judges are looking for?

For those who might not know, a hackathon is an intense sprint event where programmers, designers and domain experts come together to build a working software prototype from scratch in just 24 or 48 hours. It is a wild environment fueled by adrenaline, coding and zero sleep. Welcome to my blog today, we are going to look at some amazing tech creations! If you are like me, then you want to know what a winning project actually looks like. Let us jump right in and look at the projects that managed to conquer the recent DeerHack 2026.

Khaltover: Making Roads Safer

Khaltover is a smart system that turns any regular smartphone into a road safety sensor. This project won the Interactive Tech Track at DeerHack 2026. By using the sensors already inside your phone like the GPS and accelerometer, it detects dangerous road spots such as deep potholes and rough bumps in real time. When the app finds a hazard, it sends a warning to other drivers nearby to help them stay safe and avoid accidents.

The system also sends this information to a central map. This gives local governments a live view of where road repairs are needed most, which helps them fix dangerous areas much faster than before. The app works even when there is no internet, and it keeps all user data private and anonymous. By using technology that people already own, this platform offers a simple way for cities to improve road safety without needing to buy expensive new equipment.

This project was built by the team Thomas Calculus, which includes Ashwot Acharya, Salon Timsina and Rajat Dahal. The team hopes that this tool will lead to smoother commutes and fewer accidents for everyone. As the app continues to grow, it serves as a great example of how simple ideas can solve big problems in our community, and the developers are excited to see how it might change road safety for the better.

Github | Youtube Demo

Nityam: Building Better Study Habits

Nityam is a smart study platform designed to help entrance-exam students stay consistent and avoid burnout. Instead of just providing more study material, the app focuses on turning preparation into a sustainable daily routine. This project won at DeerHack 2026, showcasing how technology can be used to improve a student's mental well-being while they prepare for challenging exams like the IOE entrance.

The platform stands out by using scientific methods to ensure students actually remember what they study. It uses active recall with Socratic hints, spaced-repetition flashcards and a unique Feynman-style coach that grades how well a student can explain a concept. Because the app creates a weekly plan based on the student's current strengths and weaknesses, users do not have to guess what to study next. It also includes fun features like leaderboards and live duels to keep motivation high without the stress often caused by strict, punishing apps.

This project was built by the team Profit.exe, which includes Manee Das Shrestha, Sajan Sahikarmi, Dipa Khanal and Dipesh Singh. By focusing on consistency rather than intensity, the team hopes to change how students approach their exams. Their work proves that when you give learners the right tools to manage their progress, they are much more likely to succeed and reach their goals without feeling overwhelmed.

Github | Youtube Demo

Polypharmacy Risk Detection: Preventing Dangerous Medication Errors

Polypharmacy Risk Detection is an advanced clinical tool designed to identify dangerous drug interactions before they harm patients. Because many people take multiple medications at once, they face a high risk of serious side effects from conflicting drugs. This project won at DeerHack 2026 by using a smart computer model called a Graph Neural Network to provide doctors with an instant second opinion on a patient's medication list. Instead of relying on slow manual checks, the system quickly scans millions of potential drug combinations to assign a clear risk grade from low to critical.

The system does much more than simply flag problems. It stores patient history, creates detailed medical reports and even connects to an AI chatbot to explain potential risks. By automating the analysis of how drugs interact with human proteins, the platform helps busy doctors make safer decisions in clinical settings. This technology addresses a major gap in modern healthcare, where checking for these complex drug interactions is often too difficult or time-consuming to do properly.

This project was built by the team Yukti, which includes Satyam Rana, Shreejesh Joshi, Aayush Shah Nirala and Furi Lama. The team worked hard to ensure the system is reliable and safe for real-world use. By creating this tool, they hope to reduce the number of preventable hospital admissions and help medical professionals provide better care for patients who rely on multiple medications.

Github | Youtube Demo

NaniGo: Transforming Screen Time into Learning

NaniGo is an innovative educational platform designed to turn a child's screen time into a productive and engaging experience. By combining artificial intelligence, gamification and interactive lessons, the project creates a child-friendly environment that addresses the lack of high-quality, localized educational content for Nepali children. Instead of passive entertainment, the app encourages creativity and problem-solving through puzzles, quizzes and a personalized voice assistant that adapts to the child's learning pace.

This project won the EdTech Track at DeerHack 2026. The platform stands out by replacing traditional, often unengaging study methods with an interactive system that keeps children motivated through rewards and challenges. To ensure the app remains accessible and effective, it utilizes advanced vision models for reading Nepali text and uses AI to grade speech, allowing it to understand the unique pronunciation patterns of young learners. Parents are also supported through a dedicated dashboard, which provides clear insights into their child’s progress, strengths and areas needing improvement.

NaniGo was created by a team consisting of Ganesh Dahal, Ishan Upadhyay, Samip Regmi, Ashis Acharya and Ronish Karki. By focusing on localized cultural context and skill-building activities, the team has built a tool that effectively bridges the gap between technology and traditional education. They hope that this project will help children develop a love for learning while providing parents with the transparency they need to support their child's academic journey.

Github | Project Video

EternalMind: A Secure Digital Legacy

EternalMind is a blockchain-backed platform created to solve the problem of preserving a person's stories, values and advice for the future. It functions as a digital memory vault where users can securely seal private memories, photos and files while defining specific conditions for when these items can be unlocked and claimed by a chosen heir. By utilizing smart contracts to manage vault ownership and access, the platform ensures that sensitive data is not stored in plaintext on public blockchains.

This project won the Blockchain Track at DeerHack 2026. By utilizing blockchain technology, the team established a transparent and immutable system for vault management, minting and authorized access. The platform allows users to encrypt their files before storing them, and heirs can gain access through verified wallet authentication. Additionally, the platform features a memorial AI chat that allows heirs to receive answers grounded specifically in the memories preserved within a capsule.

The project was developed by the team Blocked&Chained, which includes members Ukesh Dhakal, Pranish Khanal, Bishal Rawal and Krrish Nyoupane. The team faced several technical challenges, including onboarding users to the blockchain, selecting the right encryption algorithms and integrating the back end with the front end. Despite these hurdles, they successfully built a platform that encourages people to think about digital security and privacy for future generations, and they hope it provides a lasting way for people to share their personal history with those they love.

Github | Youtube Demo

Honorable Mentions

Hamro Chautari

Hamro Chautari is a platform built to help communities work together better. This project won the Public Choice Award at Codefest 2025. It allows citizens to report local problems, suggest improvements and join in clear discussions about local budgets. The system uses features like live tracking, community voting and smart computer programs to group similar issues together so they can be solved faster.

This project was created by the team Profit.exe (the same team behind Nityam) Their work shows how modern tools can help citizens have a stronger voice in their local government.

Melamchi Water Alert System

The Melamchi Water Alert System solves a big daily problem for people living in the Kathmandu Valley. This project won first place at DeerHack Hackathon 2025 along with awards for the most innovative project and best presentation. The system deals with the uncertainty of when water will be supplied to homes. It allows officials to update the water flow status for different areas. Once updated, the system sends automatic alerts to people when water is finally available in their specific location.

This project was built by Nishav Pradhan and his teammates. Their simple but effective idea helps many households plan their daily routines, they do not have to constantly wait and worry about their water supply.

Conclusion

Looking back at these incredible projects made me realize exactly what I was missing during my own hackathon weekends. I used to think that the team with the most complex code or the highest number of features would automatically win. But looking at these winners completely changed my perspective.

When you enter a competition like this, the absolute most important things are to learn and have fun. Do not stress yourself out trying to build a flawless, massive piece of software in 48 hours. You have to remember that thinking and prototyping is just half the battle. The other half is presentation and pitching for hackathon winning. You could build the most advanced Graph Neural Network or blockchain vault in the world, but if you cannot explain it simply to the judges, you will lose to a team that has a smoother presentation. Spend time refining your slides, practice your live demo and tell a story that connects with the audience.

And if you are thinking to participate soon, best place to find your next hackathon in nepal is at Nepvents. To learn why check out my previous blog: Hackathons in Nepal 2025. Even though it was written a year ago. It will still stay the same for 2026-2027.

KU HACKFEST 2025 Experience

PrajwalUp — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 07:09:00 +0000

A few months back, I participated in KU Hackfest 2025, which is one of the biggest events under IT Meet. It is an international-level 48-hour hackathon held annually at Kathmandu University in Dhulikhel. The 2025 edition took place from December 24 to 26 and featured a massive prize pool of NPR 1,70,000.

Full Details of KU HackFest 2025

It actually took some time to convince my friends to participate, mainly because we had to skip classes, but I assured them it would be worth it. Eventually, we filled out the registration form on their website. They used GitHub for login, which made me a bit nervous because I was worried teams might be selected based on profiles. While one teammate and I had decent profiles, the other two did not. They also asked for our project idea and execution plan upfront, which felt counterintuitive to me. I always thought hackathons started with a theme reveal where everyone began coding from scratch. It felt like they were encouraging people to prepare projects beforehand, which would technically be a disqualification, but you can’t completely rule out that possibility. Hopefully, no one did that!

Then came the good news, we were shortlisted! We were among the 40 selected teams, which was super exciting. Looking at other team names, I noticed ones like hog2.6 and Mini_Pekka," so clearly, there were some Clash Royale fans as well 😂. Just doing the math made me realize how massive the event was: 40 teams with 4 members each meant 160 participants. Managing accommodation, internet, food, mentors, and volunteers for so many people is no small task, so huge respect and special thanks go to Utkrist Neupane, the Lead Organizer, for making it possible.

On Day 1, the event started at 9:00 AM. Thankfully, the organizers had arranged two buses from Kalanki and Balaju to Kathmandu University; otherwise, changing multiple buses early in the morning to reach by 9 would have been a nightmare. At the entry, we received our ID cards and found our tables labeled with our team names. After a cup of milk tea, we set up our laptops and Wi-Fi to get started. At first, we were completely confused about how to begin since we hadn’t prepared anything beforehand. We did what most developers do and asked GPT for an implementation plan. It quickly gave us a roadmap and divided tasks among the four of us. Our project was related to Vision AI, a field we had limited experience in. Design has always been a pain point for us, so we used Lovable and other AI tools to create the initial barebones UI, allowing us to focus on the logic while AI handled the design.

By lunchtime, we were starving because we hadn’t eaten since the previous night and no breakfast was provided. Lunch coupons were handed out around 1 PM, which felt quite late given our early travel. However, the lunch served at the cafeteria was honestly really good. Even though it was a college canteen, the food tasted almost like home-cooked meals. Each day had at least one non-veg meal, which was nice. Later that day, we were given snacks like samosa, pakoda, jerry, and drinks. It was refreshing, though it felt a bit wasted since we had eaten lunch not long before. Dinner was also good, but waiting in line with around 60 people wasn’t fun. Around midnight, we were given sandwiches, but most participants were already full, so hardly anyone ate them and a lot went to waste.

We kept coding through the night and learning new things. I experimented with agentic AI tools for development, basically "vibe coding." Earlier, I used to code manually and ask GPT only when things broke, but vibe coding was insanely fast and perfect for a hackathon. I also learned about a new editor called Antigravity, which was quite powerful. The internet was a bit of a problem; the Wi-Fi was unreliable despite having 5–6 routers. Ethernet worked well, but we only had one cable per team, so most development happened on just two laptops, basically forcing us into peer coding. The atmosphere was chill, but the cold at night was brutal. Thankfully, there were warm water dispensers and black coffee available. I had brought a thin blanket, which at least helped keep our legs warm. Some participants were coding intensely, while others constantly checked their internet speed, and a few organizers were even playing games on the projector.

Late at night, we were informed about accommodation. We were given sleeping bags and told we could sleep on the stage or at the back of the hall. We chose the stage, which was surprisingly warmer than expected. However, the next night was different. The chain of my sleeping bag slipped off slowly, and since the strap was loose, I was shivering cold without realizing why. I should have taken better care because the next morning I woke up with a sore throat and a light cold. That second night, we ended up sleeping under our tables after working until 2 or 3 AM.

Of course, not everything was perfect. Late at night, the toilets inside the hall ran out of water, meaning no flushing or hand washing. People started using toilets on the lower floor, but those eventually ran dry too. Thankfully, we found other toilets near the cafeteria. Speaking of the cafeteria, we once waited in the old canteen without knowing the location had changed because we forgot to check the Discord announcement. Throughout the event, the organizing team regularly checked in on us, and mentors were available, including Kritam Bhattarai, a recent ICT Award 2025 winner.

Day 2 followed a similar routine of mostly coding. Breakfast was chickpeas (chana), followed by lunch, dinner and then momo as snacks, which wasn’t bad at all. That night, there were fun games like word guessing and bingo, though we skipped the bingo to focus on our project. We also prepared our presentation slides, expecting a stage presentation. By the final evaluation day, we made our last commits by 9 AM. Initially, we thought evaluations would be individual, but the judges arrived late, so the schedule changed to simultaneous evaluations at different tables.

We were in the Open Category. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that no snacks or meals would be provided that day. We waited, only to find out everyone had already gone out to eat. Suddenly, we got a call that our turn was coming up much earlier than scheduled. We rushed to the evaluation hall. We had rehearsed a small act for a stage presentation, but since it was a desk evaluation, that effort went to waste. I’m not a great speaker, but I tried my best. Our project was solid, but I think I messed up the Q&A round and didn't give the best answers, leaving my teammates a bit disappointed.

After the evaluation, we had some tea and waited for the results. Unfortunately, we didn’t win any awards, but it was an amazing learning experience. Once the winners were announced, we had our final meal at a nearby hotel and headed back home, tired, cold, but happy. Overall, KU Hackfest 2025 was an unforgettable experience, and I’d definitely recommend participating in any such hackathons if you ever get the chance.
You can find the latest hackathons in Nepal at Nepvents. May 2026 be the year you join and win hackathon. Good luck 👍.

STN Hackathon 2025

PrajwalUp — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 04:07:58 +0000

STN Hackathon 2025 is an exciting upcoming hackathon going to be held on 6th-7th December 2025. It is a 24 hour hackathon expected to be filled with innovation and tech lovers of Nepal. It is an Open theme full stack challenge open to all developers, designers, ai/ml enthusiasts, innovators and tech lovers. It is organized by IT Skills Training Nepal, Putalisadak.

Full details: Here

You can join as a team of 4 members maximum or you can go solo if you are feeling confident. Registration closes on 4th December, 2025 and limited seats are available so register now to not miss the chance.

Talking about the prizes, the prizes include internship opportunities and even job placement so it is very ideal for students looking to start their career.

Prizes include:
🥇 1st: Rs. 15,000 + Job Placement
🥈 2nd: Rs. 5,000 + 3-Month Internship
🥉 3rd: Rs. 3,000

Participants will also have the chance to connect with tech experts and like minded individuals, receive certificates and gain recognition. Beyond the rewards, the hackathon offers a valuable experience in real-world project development and working under tight deadlines.

If you’re passionate about technology and eager to challenge yourself, STN Hackathon 2025 is the perfect opportunity to learn, create and grow.

For information of all upcoming hackathons and events you can also join Nepvents, the best event discovery platform for tech students in Nepal.

Hackathons In Nepal 2025

PrajwalUp — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 11:39:24 +0000

I remember hearing the word hackathon for the first time back in college. At first I thought it was just for "hackers" 😅 but later I realized it's not about hacking into something, it's more like "hacking together a solution to a problem". A hackathon is basically an event where people, usually students come together to build something (like an app, a website, hardware, or even ideas) within a short time, like 24 or 48 hours. Sometimes online, sometimes in-person.

I used to think hackathons were out of reach for people like me. I’d see my friends participating regularly, even winning prizes. And I was like where the heck are they even finding these events? I’d Google for “hackathon in Nepal,” but results were mostly old or incomplete. Facebook was too messy. I felt like I was missing out.

Eventually, I decided to really dig in and look for proper platforms. After a lot of random clicking and asking people, I finally found the platforms that actually work. And let me tell you about them and my experience with each one of them.

🟦 Nepvents – nepvents.com

Let’s start with the platform I like the most: Nepvents. This site has become my go-to place for discovering hackathons, tech workshops, meetups, and competitions in Nepal. Unlike others, it doesn’t rely on just one source. It pulls event info from various websites, social media, and announcementsand brings it all together in one place. It’s updated frequently and gives email alerts, so you’ll know about events before your friends do (did that 😎). It even lists online and global events, which will help students from outside the cities. I may not have joined all of them but I honestly don’t remember the last time I missed info on a good hackathon after I started checking Nepvents.

Pros:

✔ Most complete and updated list of tech events in Nepal

✔ Email alerts help you stay ahead

Cons:

✖ Not a social platform, so no team formation/chat features

✖ Some smaller local events may take time to appear

🟪 Pulchowk Events – Discord Server

Pulchowk Events is a community-driven Discord server mostly focused on events happening in and around Pulchowk Campus and Kathmandu.Besides hackathons, they post about all kinds of events, music fests, design challenges, business pitch competitions and more. While they try to verify their info, the coverage isn’t always complete, and it’s pretty limited to the capital area. If you’re outside the valley, chances are you’ll miss many events if you only check out on this server. But it has good following on Discord.

Pros:

✔ Verified event announcements

✔ Can integrate into your own Discord server

Cons:

✖ Mostly Kathmandu/Pulchowk-focused

✖ Not always complete or timely

🟩 ITSNP (IT Students of Nepal) – Facebook Group

ITSNP is a massive Facebook group where Nepali tech students hang out. It gets memes, job posts, questions, project showcases… and somewhere in between, someone might post a hackathon announcement. That’s the problem though, it’s really cluttered. I did find a few unique events here that weren’t listed elsewhere, but they were buried under random posts and often hard to notice in time. The group is great if you want to stay part of the broader student tech community, but I wouldn’t depend on it alone for finding events.

Pros:

✔ Occasional niche events not listed elsewhere

✔ Direct posts from organizers or participants

Cons:

✖ Events buried under unrelated posts

✖ No filtering or notification system

✖ Easy to miss deadlines

🟥 r/technepal – Reddit Community

r/technepal isn’t really a hackathon finder, but more of a general Nepali tech space on Reddit. Still, it surprised me how often I found people posting about forming teams for upcoming hackathons. Sometimes that’s the only reason I even knew a hackathon was happening! So while it’s not meant for event discovery, it’s useful for finding teammates or just staying in the loop. You won’t find an events alert here though.

Pros:

✔ Good for finding hackathon teammates

✔ Posts from real participants

Cons:

✖ No actual listings or regular announcements

✖ Not focused on events

🏁 Final Thoughts

So if you're like me trying to find hackathons just check out Nepvents. It's consistent, updated, and reliable. But do join other platforms as they can be helpful too, especially for community or team finding, but none of them are as focused or fast.

Hackathons have become a fun experience, and I honestly wish I had started earlier. Meeting new friends, working with a team, and trying to build something real. If you’re a student in Nepal interested in tech, do yourself a favor and explore these events. Build something. Fail. Learn. Repeat.

But most importantly have fun!

Maybe I’ll see you in one this year.

Let’s hack something cool 😄