Edu-leaders

Yahoo! and India R&D will together host ‘HackU'- the University Hack Day event for IIT Kharagpur students, from March 17-20 at the university campus. About 250 students are expected to participate in the event.

The learning, hacking and fun event is a part of Yahoo!'s commitment to nurture talent and innovation.

HackU provides a platform for students to develop and build applications using Yahoo!'s Open APIs (Application Programming Interface) like YQL and YAP, or even to create a new product concept itself. This concept provides students with the opportunity to work on product ideas, develop working prototypes in a 24-hour 'Hackathon' and give students a chance to win prizes.

Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, said, "The response to Yahoo! HackU at IIT Kharagpur shows that world-class innovations will flower when young minds of the students come in contact with the rich development environment and challenges provided by Yahoo!.”

According to Rajeev Rastogi, Vice President and head of Yahoo! Labs Bangalore, "We are focused on creating digital content and experiences that connect people to what matters most to them. Our association with premier research institutes like IIT Kharagpur fosters innovation, research collaboration and talent for our internship programs."

The event will start with a series of hack-related presentations and tech talks by Yahoo! engineers followed by a non-stop 24-hour hacking session by the students. Over the course of the four days, students will be able to interact with Yahoo! web experts, receive hacking tips and hands-on exposure to cutting-edge applications and technologies.