 Dealing with problem statements in the Smart India Hackathon requires a strategic and organized approach. Any advice on the same is always welcome. And who could be better than a past winner of Smart India Hackathon to provide this advice? So today, we have with us Deshanth Zaveri who has chosen the problem statement number 1369 to discuss with us. The problem statement is online integrated platform for projects taken up by the students of various universities and colleges. So let's see what Deshanth has to say about this problem statement. Welcome to the show Deshanth. Hello. Okay Deshanth, good to have you with us. So please let us know something about yourself. Hello, I am Deshanth Zaveri. I am a Smart India Hackathon winner. So I'm currently in my fourth year of Computer Engineering from DG Sambi College of Engineering in Mumbai. So I've been a SIH winner and I was also nominated as the finalist of the UNESCO-India Africa Hackathon which took place in Noida. And I am also the winner of Singapore-India Hackathon which took place in IIT, Kandy Nagar. So that's about me. So that's wonderful Deshanth. So Deshanth, you have experience of a lot of hackathons and that too some big ones. So it's wonderful to have you here and to be talking to you. So Deshanth, to begin with, what is the problem statement you took? Do you have any expertise in this area? Last time we made a platform to connect mentors, entrepreneurship and mentors. So this problem statement is also around it. Basically universities need projects like that and management properly. So there will be a lot of things in it. And first there will be a research phase which we have already done. So that will save us some time. So we have taken this problem statement smartly. Okay, so basically you have a lot of experience around it and technically you are very good at it. So that's nice. So I think the viewers will get a lot of benefit out of whatever we have to say about this particular statement. So let's start. So first of all tell me how you will put up a team to solve this PS? What kind of people should be in it? So the team has to be of six members, right? So one person should be able to lead the team properly. I was there at the time, so being a team leader is very important. And if the team leader has some previous knowledge or experience, then it will be extra beneficial. Then one person should be able to pitch properly and present the product properly. Pitching is the most important phase of the smart India. If you sell your product in a good way, then the judges will be impressed and your chances of winning will be boosted up. Third would be a full stack developer. So we will do it in a way that we can make a website application and with that we can integrate AI based recommendations. So for that a full stack developer and an app developer should be a website developer. And the last person can be a backend developer so that a team work can be done properly. So that's nice Dishanth. You told in detail exactly who should be, what should be their work. That was very thorough on your part. Now moving on, let's talk about the research part. What kind of research do you think is required? Who is important to meet with? Who is important to read? What things are important to see? So the problem statement revolves around some journal publications and management. So in this journal, there will be a lot of existing systems because this is a common problem statement. So first of all, existing model solutions where research papers are already written, you have to search them first and then you have to go through all those papers thoroughly and then you have to identify research gaps. You have to sit with the team and decide what we can add to it and the problem statement related to it should be out of the topic. And the entire documentation should be made first. Not just discussion, but proper documentation should be done. After that, you have to optimize it so that it is not an extra feature required. So we can feature three in one so that we can save time during the presentation and all aspects are covered. If I talk about solving the PS or creating an application, then how will you divide the work? These are the parts that have to be done and we will do this first and then we will do this. So how will you distribute and plan the entire workflow? Yeah, so starting with the initial phase, the initial phase would be understanding the problem statement in a good way. So for that, you can consult your professors in your college and whoever has a good understanding who has been as mentors to smart and academic previously, you should note down all the outputs from them. The whole research phase will be done on their basis. We will do research on all the teams and we should decide on a common solution. After that, once the entire plan is laid out, we have to divide the parts into stack-wise. If I am a cross-platform Android app developer like my stack, then 8 people will come and create an app with me and we have to make sure that the design of the app and website is the same. The knowledge in the UI-UX and the color combinations are also important. And simultaneously, we should start the backend because we should not start it in the end. We should start with the data, which API we have to make, how we will fetch, which tools we will use. We have to manage the team leader and make sure that every two days we meet daily so that we can make progress. So basically, leading the team is very important. And one very important thing that you have said is that looking at the finer details, taking care of those things. Of course, that's really going to make a difference, I am sure. Now, while moving ahead, tell me a little bit about how much work do you think you should do before you reach Hackathon? After that, how much work will you leave for those 36 hours where you actually have to compete on venue? Yeah, so speaking of my prior experience, we also felt that the product would be made there. We did some 50% and the rest was done there. So we realized that if we do 75-80% of the product from here so that the mentoring and evaluation around there would also have a lot of inputs. There would also be industrial experts. So it is more important to solve the inputs from the product. So that will take a lot of time and we will have to plan it. So it will take a lot of time. So it is better to make the entire product from here and do the final touches there. And you can optimize the recommendations from there. So Dishan, you just made a point that there is a good amount of chance that there will be a lot of changes that would be required to be made once the evaluation starts, once the feedback comes in. So you said that you want to finish 70-80% earlier. So this will not be detrimental because you have already finished 80% work. After that you need to do changes. So won't you build a lot of pressure on this? There will be a backup plan more than pressure. If we have any changes from there then we already have an approach. So we have to improve it with its accuracy. So we won't have to plan it from scratch. If we are not going after doing it then if there is a new idea or feature from there then it will take a lot of time to figure it out. Or if all the features are already covered which is written in the PS, then the judges will tell you how to scale it, its financial aspect. So we can do all that well from there. Okay, that's a fair point, Dishan. So now coming to the last part that you said that it is very critical and crucial. The final presentation, how you present it in the final form so that it looks very convincing and that is actually make or break point for any presentation or any hackathon. So what should the inputs go in its preparation? Yeah, so pitching always 10 to 12 hours. If the final rounds from 10 to 12 hours is dedicated to one person who has taken the pitch in the team who presents the pitch very well who is fluent in English then he has to take the work of the person or the work of someone else and he has to put it in the presentation for 10 hours in a story format in a unique way which appeals to the judges and it is not that it is too fancy it should look simple and significant. So it should take 1 day for planning and I think if two to three people present the whole product then enough is enough because there is no need to talk to six people and there is not enough time. So the best three people who present should lead one person and one or two people will support them that they will do this feature and one or two people have to tackle the questions Fair enough Dishan, that sounds very practical and a lot of common sense in there So now finally if you have to share one piece of advice or any tips and tricks or do's and don'ts with the contestants what will that be? Should we say that this thing works and it doesn't work? So any piece of advice on that front? Yes, one thing you have to definitely do is never give up So there will be a time where if the product is not being made or if the competition is too much and the other team has come to know that something like that will happen so you don't have to be confident in that you have to be confident you have to have that belief that the product will be made and at the end winning is not everything you have to give your best so you don't have to give up and with the full dedication with 24-36 years you have to work hard and one thing what you have to do is to make a good product you have to optimize it you don't have to fanciness aesthetic and all that You have to have a color combination so that the matter of red because if you feel hungry then the red color signifies that that is what you have to do so you have to figure out what colors you have to depict so you have to take care of all these aspects and make a good product final So that was nice Dishant a very nice sum up I would say Never give up, give it your best and take care of those small details like color combinations and the rational behind it and make it look really professional So that was wonderful talking to you Dishant and I am sure everyone will benefit a lot from your inputs and thank you so much for joining us today and we wish you all the best for whatever you are doing and even going forward so thanks for taking your time out Thank you so much for joining Dishant Thank you for having me Smart India Hackathon is all about being innovative and making a positive impact Put in all your enthusiasm, knowledge and creativity to provide solutions and enjoy the experience