Zhejiang University Hackathon: Intern Wins Second Prize for AI Hardware
From Idea to Reality: A Three-Day Journey of Innovation
Innovation begins with an idea, but true innovation comes when that idea is transformed into something that can be built, tested, demonstrated, and experienced.
From August 14 to 16, 2026, Zhejiang University hosted the “Control · Toward the Future” AI Hardware and Embodied Intelligence Hackathon & Smart City Innovation Competition Campus Selection at the Lvfeng Center in Xihu District, Hangzhou.
The three-day event brought together students, researchers, makers, and young innovators from different technical backgrounds to develop practical solutions combining artificial intelligence, smart hardware, robotics, intelligent interaction, and smart-city technologies.
The competition was designed to encourage participants to move beyond purely theoretical ideas and software development and instead create working physical prototypes and demonstrable intelligent systems.
The event focused on the rapidly developing fields of Artificial Intelligence, AI-enabled hardware, Embodied intelligence, Robotics, Human–machine interaction, Smart cities, Intelligent products, Environmental and sustainable technologies, Digital and physical prototypes. The event provided not only development space but also workshops, technical training, mentoring, meals, nighttime development support, and opportunities for promising projects to connect with industry resources and incubation platforms.
One of the notable achievements of the event was the Second Prize awarded to Muhammad Hamza Nadeem, an intern from Keqiao International Park for his project. His participation demonstrated the value of combining academic knowledge with practical engineering and prototype development. The hackathon provided an environment where ideas had to move quickly from concept to implementation. Participants were required to make decisions under time constraints, integrate different technologies, solve unexpected technical problems, and prepare a working demonstration within only three days.
