Code Craft 2026
12 February 2026, Thursday
12 February 2026, Thursday
11:00 AM
02:00 PM
School of Computer Science & Engineering (SCSE) — AI Centre of Excellence, IILM University, Gurugram
AI Centre of Excellence, SCSE
Dr. Anurag Jain
Auditorium, 3rd Floor Board Room, SF3
CODECRAFT 2026 was a student-driven technical innovation event organised by the SCSE AI Centre of Excellence, providing a platform for students to present innovative ideas and convert them into practical implementations — with 50 teams applying, 30 shortlisted for final presentations, and teams competing across parallel project presentation sessions with expert evaluation. Dr. Arjun Kumar, Scientist & Associate Director, Directorate of Technology Development Fund at DRDO HQ, delivered an insightful keynote on DRDO funding opportunities, hackathons and innovation challenges, and the startup ecosystem and investment readiness — positioning defence-funded technology development as a concrete and accessible pathway for student innovators. Mr. Amar Saxena, Startup Investor & Mentor at SwiftSeed Ventures (IIT Delhi alumnus), provided expert perspectives on the startup ecosystem and investment readiness, complementing the DRDO funding discussion with a private sector lens and offering students a comprehensive view of the full spectrum of innovation funding and commercialisation pathways. The event included the inauguration of two edited books authored by faculty members of SCSE — reflecting the institution’s research output and providing students with a direct illustration of faculty-level scholarly contribution as an aspirational professional benchmark. The event was recognised by students, faculty, and guests as well-organised, student-centric, and professionally executed, with judges commending the quality and diversity of student projects, and participants appreciating the opportunity to interact directly with DRDO and startup mentors.
Students gained enhanced awareness about defence funding schemes and innovation grants through direct engagement with Dr. Arjun Kumar from DRDO, and improved understanding of the startup ecosystem and incubation support through Mr. Amar Saxena’s investor perspective — providing a comprehensive dual view of public and private pathways for technology innovation. Boosted student confidence in presenting research and innovation projects through the competitive format, with 30 teams presenting across parallel sessions before expert judges drawn from defence research, startup investment, and academia. Students benefited from strengthened industry–academia networking and the inauguration of two faculty-authored books, which modelled academic research contribution as an achievable professional aspiration. Encouraged practical implementation of technical ideas — with teams from both IILM University and KR Mangalam University competing — fostering cross-institutional exchange and healthy competitive benchmarking. Promoted leadership and event management skills among student organisers and volunteers, with the event’s scale and professional execution reflecting the organisational capabilities of the student coordinator team led by Rudraksh Sachdeva and Devansh Datta.