Junior Make-A-Thon (JMT) 2027

Junior Make-A-Thon (JMT) 2027 is a national-level maker hackathon for students of Grades 6–12, organized as a collaborative initiative involving Creya Learning and Shaastra, IIT Madras.

The event goes beyond traditional software hackathons by encouraging students to identify real-world problems, understand them through research and user interaction, and build tangible, working physical prototypes using engineering and emerging technologies.

Grand Finale: 2–6 January 2027 | Venue: IIT Madras Campus, Chennai

Objectives

Encourage young students to become innovators, makers, and real-world problem solvers.
Develop empathy by helping students understand real problems and the people affected by them.
Teach students to apply Design Thinking, research, ideation, engineering, prototyping, and testing.
Move students beyond screen-based solutions toward functional physical innovation.
Introduce students to technologies such as AI, IoT, Robotics, Automation, Physical AI, Sensors, Drones, Computer Vision, and Data Analytics.
Encourage students to develop solutions that contribute to the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.

Challenge Themes

Theme	Focus
Safety & Security	Road safety, disaster response, personal safety, cybersecurity, workplace and infrastructure safety.
Food Security	Innovative solutions supporting food systems, accessibility, sustainability, and resilience.
Healthcare	Technology-enabled solutions that improve healthcare access, safety, monitoring, and delivery.
Smart Mobility	Safer, smarter, more accessible, and efficient transportation and mobility solutions.
Manufacturing	Technology and engineering solutions for smarter, safer, and more efficient manufacturing.

How the Make-A-Thon Works

Stage	What Students Do
1. Immersion	Interview users and stakeholders, conduct surveys, perform research, and understand the problem from the ground level.
2. Ideation & Design	Convert research insights into ideas, select a solution, and prepare design sketches and engineering concepts.
3. Prototyping	Shortlisted teams build and test functional physical prototypes using materials and fabrication resources at IIT Madras.
4. Presentation	Teams demonstrate their working prototypes and present their solutions to an expert jury.

Participation & Eligibility

Junior Category: Grades 6–8
Senior Category: Grades 9–12
Each team can have a maximum of 3 students.
Students must belong to the same school and category.
Participation is completely free.
Each team must focus on one problem statement.

Selection & Finale

JMT 2027 follows a rigorous multi-stage journey involving immersion, ideation, regional selection, and final physical prototyping. The top 12 teams in each category are invited to the final in-person prototyping experience at IIT Madras.

At the finale, students participate in a hands-on maker experience with access to prototyping materials, fabrication resources, bootcamps, and mentorship. Final working prototypes are evaluated by distinguished academia and industry experts.

Expected Outcomes

Skill / Outcome	Student Development
Problem Solving	Identify real-world problems and develop practical solutions.
Design Thinking	Build empathy, research users, ideate, prototype, test, and improve solutions.
Technical Skills	Gain hands-on experience with electronics, sensors, robotics, AI, IoT, automation, and physical prototyping.
Teamwork	Develop collaboration, communication, leadership, and project-management abilities.
Innovation	Transform ideas into tangible, functional prototypes that address real needs.

Opportunities for Finalists

Hands-on prototyping experience at IIT Madras.
Mentorship and maker bootcamps.
Interaction with academic and industry experts.
Awards and cash prizes.
Certificates and recognition.
Mentorship and potential incubation support.
Opportunity to showcase innovative solutions on a national platform.

Partners & Organizers

Organization	Role
Creya Learning	STEM, Design Thinking, maker education, and innovation partner.
Shaastra, IIT Madras	Technical festival partner and part of the initiative's institutional ecosystem.
IIT Madras	Hosts the grand finale and provides the environment for final prototyping and expert evaluation.

💡 The JMT 2027 Vision

JMT 2027 aims to inspire the next generation of Indian innovators by taking students beyond ideas and software screens into the real world of research, engineering, making, testing, and physical innovation.

Understand the Problem → Research → Ideate → Design → Build → Test → Present

Iit Madras Jmt 2027