AI Engineering & MLOps Buildathon
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A progressive, university-focused AI engineering and ML Ops buildathon designed to move participants from knowledge validation to MVP development and an intensive on-premises build experience.
Hosted by the IEEE Computer Society of KDU and open to undergraduates across Sri Lanka. Three phases, one shortlist, and a final day that ends with your project on a stage.
Initial quiz-based evaluation and participant selection.
Selected teams receive an organizing-committee-defined problem statement and build an MVP.
Six-hour on-premises buildathon followed by project pitching, evaluation, awards/recognition and the closing ceremony.
Full rulebook published with the announcement on 12 Sep 2026.
Phase 3 pitches run 10 minutes plus 5 for questions. Every project is scored against the same five axes, weighted as below. Provisional weights — confirmed with the rulebook.
Prize (TBC), the TensorForge trophy, and an introduction to the knowledge partners' engineering teams.
Prize (TBC) for the team.
Prize (TBC) for the team.
Anything still unclear, mail the committee and we will add it here.
Yes. Register as a team of 3-5 people. We allow cross university/institute team formations too. But all members of the team must be representing a Sri Lankan University/Educationa Institute
Machine-learning fundamentals, Python, the model lifecycle and basic ML Ops tooling — containers, versioning, deployment and monitoring concepts. A study outline goes out with the announcement.
No. Entry is free for all three phases. Refreshments on the final day are covered by the organisers.
At the KDU FGS building premises on 17 October 2026. The exact hall and reporting time are sent to shortlisted teams with their Phase 3 confirmation.
Your own laptop and charger, your student ID, your personal hotspost/network connection and any hardware your project needs. Power extensions are provided.
Yes, and we expect you to. Declare what you used in your pitch - judges care about the engineering decisions around the tools, not abstinence from them.
Yes. One statement, defined by the organizing committee, released to every shortlisted team at the same moment.
Everyone who competes on the final day receives a certificate of participation. Winners and special-recognition teams receive theirs at the closing ceremony.
Registration ran from 17–22 September 2026. Your team leader will receive the Phase 1 quiz link by email on 26 September.
Thank you to everyone who registered. The portal is now closed. Watch your inbox for Phase 1 updates.