Hacktoberfest Hack Day Bengaluru x IEEE CIS
Hacktoberfest Hack Day Bengaluru × IEEE CIS
IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (IEEE CIS), M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, is hosting a free, in-person Hacktoberfest Hack Day focused on open-source AI, open-weight models and hands-on project building.
The event will bring together university students and working professionals to learn, collaborate and build practical AI projects during a one-day build sprint.
🔴 Registration Closed
Registrations for Hacktoberfest Hack Day Bengaluru ’26 are now closed.
Participants who have already registered must complete their Round 1 Idea Submission before the deadline.
📅 Submission Deadline: 4 October 2026
⏰ 11:59 AM IST
🔗 Round 1 Submission Form:
https://forms.gle/TGwpVohtsvz5nzCZ8
Please make sure to submit your idea before the deadline.
Event Details
- Date: 9 October 2026
- Time: 9:00 AM–6:00 PM IST
- Venue: M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
- Format: Free, in-person Hack Day
- Eligibility: University students and working professionals
- Team size: 2–4 members
Registration and Teams
Every participant must register individually through OrganizerHQ. Teams of 2–4 members are welcome. For the online idea-submission round, teams should be pre-formed and one representative should submit the team’s idea.
Registration does not guarantee an in-person seat. After registration, one representative from each team will submit a short idea PDF through a separate IEEE CIS submission form. Shortlisted participants will receive a separate acceptance and RSVP email.
The team idea-submission round will open on 1 October 2026. The submission deadline is 4 October 2026 at 11:59 AM IST.
All confirmed attendees must complete OrganizerHQ check-in at the venue.
What to Expect
- Hacktoberfest and open-source AI orientation
- Technical learning session
- Team-based project building
- Mentor support
- Project submissions
- Judging and finalist demos
- Recognition and closing ceremony
Theme
Build with open-source AI and open-weight models. Suggested areas include open-source AI tools, education, accessibility, healthcare, sustainability, civic impact, Indian languages, culture and community solutions.
The official Hack Day challenge and any additional partner challenge will be displayed in the OrganizerHQ Challenges section. Do not assume a partner challenge unless it is listed there.
What to Bring
- Laptop and charger
- Valid college or government-issued ID
- Any developer accounts or tools needed for building
Please follow the MLH Code of Conduct and all MSRIT campus rules.
Challenges
Best Use of Gemma 4
It’s time to see how much you can build with a lightweight, open model. Gemma 4 packs multimodal intelligence into an open-weights model that you can access through the Gemini API. So, what can Gemma 4 bring to your project?
- Multimodal Experience: Work with text and images to create an assistant that understands more of what users share.
- Focused AI Tools: Build a focused AI tool for learning, creativity, productivity, or your community.
- Rapid Prototyping: Experiment with an open model while using the Gemini API to move quickly from an idea to a working prototype.
Bring your idea to life… what will you build with Gemma 4 today?
Best Open-Source AI Project
Build an original project that uses open-source or open-weight AI as an important part of how it works. Teams could create an agent skill, build with an open-weight large or small language model, or build or adapt an open-source model harness. These are examples within one challenge, and teams may combine them.
Open-source or open-weight AI must be an important part of the project.
The project must be published in a public GitHub repository and use an open-source license.
An agent skill must comply with the Agent Skill Open Standard.
A model-harness entry must include an original implementation or meaningful changes to an existing open-source harness.
Submissions aren’t open for this event.