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
What we will cover
- The main objective of JMT 2027 is to move students beyond software and theoretical ideas into real-world physical innovation.
- Develop young innovators from Grades 6–12 through hands-on engineering and making.
- Encourage students to identify and understand real problems faced by people and communities.
- Teach students to use Design Thinking—especially empathy, research, ideation, prototyping and testing.
- Move from a traditional hackathon → physical Make-A-Thon, where students actually build working prototypes.
- Give best K12 students a platform to immerse in the ground realities of India and ideate/innovate for Viksit Bharat @ 2047
- Encourage students to apply technologies such as: AI, IOT, Robotics, Automation, Physical AI, Sensors, Drones, Computer Vision & Data Analytics
- Develop students' ability to work in teams, research, design, engineer, prototype and present.
- Give students exposure to IIT Madras faculty, industry experts and professional mentors.
- Move students "from a nation of Jugaad to true innovation" — requiring deep immersion in a problem before ideation and solution prototyping
- Build awareness, understanding, and action in future citizens around national priority domains: education & entrepreneurship, healthcare, food security/agriculture, employment & skilling, safety & security, climate resilience, and mobility & manufacturing
What you leave with
- Ability to transform an idea into a functional physical prototype: Problem → Research → User Interviews → Ideation → Design → Prototype → Testing → Presentation
- Workshops by IIT Madras faculty and industry experts, one-on-one mentoring, access to state-of-the-art labs, and networking with peers and industry leaders
- Prizes and grants worth ₹5,00,000+, plus certificates and recognition from IIT Madras Shaastra; recent editions have drawn 50,000+ students from 1,000+ schools across 6 regional hubs
In partnership with
IIT Madras Shaastra
Creya Learning & Research