Yuvraj Tankala and Joseph K Paul from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SRM University-AP has successfully bagged a cash prize of $1750 at the Datastax Hackathon held from Dec 2020 to Feb 2021. The duo formed the “Team Hexagon” and demonstrated their full-stack AI monitored online classroom and examination portal project at the international competition conducted by Datastax. It powered the innovative data apps to the Home Depot, T-Mobile, Intuit, and half of the Fortune 100 companies.

Rakuten India Enterprise Private Limited conducted this 24-hour challenge competition amongst 7000+ participants. Based on three rounds- 1) Ideation Phase 2) Build Phase 3) Finals-winners were decided. Each team comprised of one to four members and they were allotted various themes such as Mobile and Web Development, Web Analytics, Platform Development and Backend Engineering, Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

While briefing on the project, Team Hexagon elucidated, “We were excited to participate in the competition and immediately started working on the project. After outlining the base of the project, we were assured that it could create a positive impact during this unprecedented time of Covid-19 outbreak. The education system is facing tough times while managing online assessments. We introduced an AI model-based monitoring system for examiners and examinees involved in the evaluation process. The application follows the head and lip movements of the examinee by considering the various parameters. It tracks the head movement in two axes (up-down and right-left) and warns the examinee to concentrate on the screen. In a similar way, it follows the lip movement and alerts the examiner when found any abnormal movements in between assessment”.

Yuvraj and Joseph presented their project before Technology Business Incubator’s panel, which was shortlisted from 34 other proposals. Under this programme, they went under rigorous training for 12 months and received the felicitation of industry support, seed funding, innovation fund support, industry connectivity with the key players in the market. Winning over the competitive challenges has given the duo high confidence to work on multiple projects and plan to lead off a venture after the completion of academic years.

In the next chapter of the Freshmen Orientation Programme-2021, PADMA BHUSHAN Dr Varaprasad Reddy – Founder & Chairman of Shantha Biotechnics Ltd. will be joining us on September 03, 2021, at 10.45 am to meet and greet the new students.

Dr Varaprasad Reddy is a versatile personality who has excelled in various domains of science and technology, entrepreneurship, and industrial development. He is the founder of Shantha Biotechnics, a company that purposes to produce cost-efficient vaccines for the dwellers of India. Shantha Biotechnics developed India’s first ‘indigenously developed’ vaccine against Hepatitis-B, which was made available in the market at a much-reduced cost compared to the imported alternatives.

The credit is due to Dr Varaprasad Reddy and his vision for enabling India to become the leading manufacturer of vaccines. His fervour to contribute to the country won him several accolades, such as the coveted PADMA BHUSHAN award from the government of India and honorary ‘doctorate’ from various universities of repute. The Freshmen 2021 are encouraged to avail the opportunity of attending the session with the illustrious Dr Varaprasad Reddy on September 03, 2021, at 10.45 am, who would propel you towards brilliance and compassion.