Jalandhar, 25.09.26-; India's flagship student innovation challenge, the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026, brought thousands of young innovators from across the country to a common platform to develop solutions to real world challenges. At Lovely Professional University (LPU), the road to the national hackathon began with Gear UP Season 5, the university’s internal gateway for SIH 2026, which saw more than 6,000 LPU students form 900+ teams and tackle over 200 problem statements across hardware and software domains. The 36 hour hackathon marked the largest edition of Gear UP, organized on the LPU campus, creating a large scale internal innovation platform through which student teams developed and refined their solutions ahead of the SIH selection process.

Dr. Col. Rashmi Mittal, Pro Chancellor of LPU, and Mr. Sudhanshu Karnatak, Chief Business Officer, Global, RMX Group, inaugurated the initiative. Dr. Rashmi Mittal said, “LPU believes that young minds thrive when they are given the freedom to think beyond the obvious and turn their ideas into action. We endeavor to create an environment where curiosity, creativity, and the courage to experiment become an integral part of the student experience.”

Gear UP Season 5 adds to LPU’s growing innovation record, supported by a continued focus on giving students opportunities to build, test, and compete beyond the classroom. This is central to the university’s Edu-Revolution, which places practical exposure and application at the core of the student experience. From national hackathons and technology challenges to research, startups, and student led projects, LPU continues to expand platforms where ideas can be tested against real problems and taken further. LPU’s earlier SIH performance also saw Team Stellar Six and Team Sci Divine emerge as winners in the Software and Hardware categories, respectively.