Mangaluru: A four-member student team from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, has emerged winner of Aerothon 2026, a national aerospace hackathon organised by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and IIT Indore.
The NITK team competed against more than 640 teams from across the country and secured the top position for developing an innovative machine-learning solution aimed at monitoring turbojet engine health in real time.
Four NITK students behind the winning solution
The winning team comprised Omkar Kharade and Shubham Shah, pre-final-year mechanical engineering students; Diya Taneja, a pre-final-year electronics and communication engineering student; and Maxon David Nazareth, a second-year mechanical engineering student.
The students were among 20 finalist teams selected to participate in the final 24-hour hackathon conducted at IIT Indore on August 7 and 8.
The team received a cash prize of ₹50,000 for its winning entry.
AI solution targets aircraft engine safety
Aerothon 2026 attracted more than 2,300 participants and challenged students to develop data-driven and machine-learning solutions for real-world aerospace engineering problems.
The NITK team worked on the problem statement ‘Physics-Informed Digital Twin for Real-Time Four-Stage Turbojet Health Monitoring’.
Their system processes real-time sensor data and applies machine-learning techniques to identify and predict specific turbojet engine failure modes before they occur.
The technology could help improve flight safety while reducing turnaround time for engine manufacturers, maintenance providers and airlines.
NITK team eyes further development
The students now plan to develop the project further and explore its potential for commercialisation. They are also seeking support and guidance from NITK alumni and industry experts in the aerospace and aviation sectors.
The achievement adds another milestone to NITK Surathkal’s growing record of student-led innovation and highlights the potential of young engineers to develop technology for critical applications in India’s aerospace sector.
The success at Aerothon 2026 also underlines the importance of industry-linked hackathons in giving engineering students an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to complex, real-world challenges.