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India | January 27, 2026: KRUU, in association with American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), has announced the launch of KRUU GRASP 2026, a national-level AI hackathon designed to recognise clear thinking, applied reasoning, and real-world problem solving among college students across India. Winners will receive cash prizes totaling INR 1.85 lakh, certificates jointly issued by Kruu, ASME, and partners, national-level recognition, structured expert feedback, internship opportunities, and potential global exposure, including opportunities with France-based AI institutions.
The hackathon is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students across engineering, science, healthcare, management, design, and interdisciplinary programs, with teams of three students each. Cross-disciplinary participation is strongly encouraged.
Students can apply across 4 strategic domains: AI for Social Good, AI for Education, AI for Medicine, and Applied engineering.
Interested participants can apply: https://clic.getkruu.com/
Conceptualized and led by KRUU as the program architect, GRASP 2026 is delivered in collaboration with ASME, leveraging their global engineering excellence and professional adjudication. Supported by outreach partners CGSSC (Capital Goods & Strategic Goods & Strategic Skill Council) and Information and Communication Technology Academy of Kerala (ICTAK), the program combines KRUU’s AI-based evaluation systems with industry-aligned assessments.
Scheduled for February 6–8, 2026, GRASP departs from traditional speed-coding marathons. It introduces a thinking-first, worksheet-driven framework that mirrors professional R&D and global innovation ecosystems. Rather than focusing on interface polish, participants are judged on:
- Problem Framing & Logic
- Data Reasoning & Feasibility
- Ethics & Execution Thinking
Participants will be evaluated through a multi-layered process, including AI-based scoring of reasoning worksheets, validation through working demos, and final adjudication by a joint jury comprising professors, industry experts, and ASME representatives.
With GRASP 2026, the organizers aim to address a growing gap in AI education — shifting the focus from tool usage to reasoning quality, responsible design, and decision-making clarity.
Important Dates & Program Milestones
- February 5, 2026 – Registration & National Launch
○ National announcement of GRASP 2026
○ Registrations open
○ Domains, challenges overview, and evaluation philosophy released
- February 6, 2026 – Kick-Off & Masterclass
○ 9:00 AM: Public reveal of 12 national AI challenges
○ 11:00 AM: Mandatory masterclass led by industry leaders
○ 2:00 PM: Execution window opens
- February 6–7, 2026 – Deep Design & Submission Phase
○ System design sprint and reasoning refinement
○ Thinking audits and worksheet-based submissions
○ 11:59 PM (Feb 7): Final submission deadline (Worksheets + working demo/prototype)
- February 8, 2026 – Evaluation, Jury Review & Awards
○ 6:00 AM: AI-based national shortlisting
○ 2:00 PM: Jury deep-dive with faculty, industry experts, and ASME representatives
○ 8:00 PM: Grand finale and winners’ announcement
