2026 WFEO Hackathon
Smart Engineering for a Sustainable Future · three challenges · winners announced in Jakarta on 4 March 2026
- 2,952registrants, a record
- 85countries
- 3challenges
- 4SDGs
Source: wfeo.org: World Engineering Day 2026; 2026 Hackathon archive. Read 13 October 2026.
Theme: Smart Engineering for a Sustainable Future
The 2026 Hackathon focused on SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: resilient infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, innovation and digitalisation. A virtual, global event judged on a 5-minute video pitch.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 12 January 2026 | Challenges released; Hackathon period opens |
| 26 January 2026, 5 pm CET | Registration closes; submission deadline |
| 6 February 2026 | Top 10 finalists announced |
| 4 March 2026 | Winners announced in Jakarta |
The three challenges
Challenge 1
Sustainable Cities
SDG 11
Design smarter urban systems for a liveable future.
Think about what a city needs for people to thrive, how existing and projected stresses and shocks threaten that, and propose engineering solutions that make cities more resilient.
Full challenge brief: Sustainable Cities and Communities (on worldengineeringday.net)
Challenge 2
Responsible Production
SDG 12
Reimagine how we produce, use and reuse resources.
Engineering solutions to increase the sustainability of humanity’s resource use: sustainable alternatives, impact mitigation, technologies that nudge behaviour towards resource security, and the shift from linear to circular.
Full challenge brief: Responsible Consumption and Production (on worldengineeringday.net)
Challenge 3
Blue and Green Planet
SDG 14SDG 15
Restore, regenerate and protect life on land and below water.
Innovations that help humans live in balance with the environment and rebalance damage already done.
Full challenge brief: Life on Land and Below Water (on worldengineeringday.net)
Winners
- 1st place: Think³, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- 2nd place: Echo-Logic, Technological Institute of the Philippines
- 3rd place: Algaboard, Ewha Womans University (Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering), South Korea
- Special mention: Sentinel Innovators, Chinhoyi University of Technology and Masvingo Polytech, Zimbabwe
Watch the winning submissions (videos open on Vimeo):
- First place: Think³ (on vimeo.com)
- Second place: Echo-Logic (on vimeo.com)
- Third place: Algaboard (on vimeo.com)
Announced on 4 March 2026 in Jakarta by Marlene Kanga, WFEO past President. Finalist judging panel: Marlene Kanga (World Engineering Day founder), K. N. Gunalan (WFEO President-Elect) and Firas Bou Diab (WFEO Executive Vice-President), after a global panel of preliminary judges.
2026 judging criteria
- Application of engineering
- Originality
- Digital tools and technology
- Contribution to the SDGs
- Collaboration
Hosted by WFEO with the support of UNESCO and in partnership with Engineers Without Borders.
Report
WED 2026 final report (PDF, 7.4 MB) (on worldengineeringday.net)
Source: Hackathon page, 2026 version (REST, modified 20 April 2026); Challenge 1; Challenge 2; Challenge 3. Read 13 October 2026.
Hackathon archive
- 2026: Smart Engineering
- 2025: The Manufacturing Box (University of Twente) won. Edition page not built in this concept.
This year
Hackathon 2027: sustainable transport
Edition