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AI Hackathon Crowns Top DeepTech Innovators
28 Feb
Summary
- IESA, GlobalFoundries, and NXP Semiconductors partnered for a DeepTech Hackathon.
- The competition focused on AI-enabled EDA for semiconductor image defect classification.
- An all-girls team from Chennai Institute of Technology won the grand prize.
The India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), alongside GlobalFoundries and NXP Semiconductors, celebrated the conclusion of the DeepTech Hackathon at the IESA Vision Summit 2026. This initiative sought to identify and nurture India's burgeoning semiconductor design talent, crucial for the nation's expansion into chip manufacturing. The hackathon challenged participants to develop innovative solutions using AI-enabled workflows for defect classification in semiconductor images.
Attracting 911 teams from 359 colleges, the competition culminated with 10 finalists presenting their ideas. An all-girls team from Chennai Institute of Technology secured the first prize, receiving Rs. 1,00,000. Ramco Institute of Technology and IIT Indore were awarded as the first and second runners-up, respectively. These winners exemplify India's commitment to design-led manufacturing and deep-tech innovation.
Industry leaders emphasized the hackathon's role in building a robust semiconductor ecosystem and developing a future-ready talent pipeline. The event highlighted the critical synergy between AI and semiconductors, underscoring India's potential to lead in advanced AI-driven systems and contribute significantly to global technological advancement.
