‘Future-ready’ engineers: VVCE Civil Engineering students shine at Ideathon-2026

The Department of Civil Engineering at Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering (VVCE) hosted Ideathon 2026, an idea-generation competition on Thursday that brought together civil engineering students from all four years to develop innovative solutions focussed on automation and sustainability.

Automation and sustainability in civil engineering are among the most prominent emerging fields globally. Aligning with modern education policy requirements, the event emphasised experiential learning by transforming the campus into a hub for technical discovery, the organisers said.

The problem-based competition encouraged students to move beyond textbook learning and address practical challenges in the modern built environment.

The contest followed a structured, tiered format where students from different academic years worked on specific themes. First-year students developed concepts such as smart traffic management systems and intelligent rainwater harvesting models. Second-year teams focused on automation safety mechanisms and sustainable stormwater management strategies.

“By addressing fundamental urban challenges, the junior batches demonstrated concepts aligned with Smart City integration and ecological preservation,” the college said in a release, adding that the initiative reflected the growing impact of hands-on and policy-driven education.

Senior students presented more advanced technical models aimed at industry application. Third-year students showcased predictive flood-alert threshold models and innovative solid waste management solutions.

Fourth-year students addressed professional and industry challenges with projects such as automated Bill of Quantities (BOQ) extraction from CAD drawings and tools to assess the lifecycle carbon footprint of buildings, the release added.

“These solutions highlight a shift toward digital transformation and demonstrate that VVCE’s next generation of engineers are making efforts to balance rapid urban development with environmental responsibility,” the release said.