The 2026 WFEO Hackathon was concluded successfully on 4th March 2026 at Balai Kartini in Jakarta as part of the World Engineering Day celebrations held annually on 4th March 2026.
This international event focuses on young people engaging young engineers and engineering students from every continent around the world in what is now the largest international competition for young engineering students.
“Sentinel Innovators”
“Sentinel Innovators” – from Chinhoyi University of Technology and Masvingo Polytech – Zimbabwe, was Highly Commended.
They tackled Challenge: Resilient Cities, developing a sustainable, chemical-free agricultural solution that addresses the urgent need for food security in farming, developing “RoboSoil ZW”, an autonomous, solar-powered mobile soil testing robot designed to provide real-time, in-field soil health analysis and moisture prediction for smallholder farmers.
270+
3000+
In addition to SDG 9 (Innovation), it strongly supports SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by reducing fertilizer use, and SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The judges thought this entry demonstrated the team’s electrical/electronic engineering skills combined with knowledge of using robotics devices to develop a system that can improve the productivity of farmers.
WFEO Hackathon teams had to also choose one of three challenges and develop an innovative engineering solution. These were:
- Circular Innovation – Reimagine how we produce, use, and reuse resources.
- Resilient Cities – Design smarter urban systems for a liveable future.
- Blue and Green Planet – solutions that restore, regenerate and protect life on land and below water.
