Abhishek Bhardwaj, a MoTIS 16 student, recently took the time to talk to us about his experience of winning the European Hackathon, a five-day competition in which students have to build a real-world project.

Abhishek’s enjoyment of the event is clear for all to see. He joyfully says “It was great because it’s related to my MoTIS degree. We have (learnt) innovation, strategy and digital transformation, and European Hackathon is (based) on that”.

He recommends the project to all students who are considering taking part, highlighting that it is a fantastic opportunity to apply the skills that a MoTIS student learns in their first semester at ESIEE. 

Abhishek elaborates on how a general day is structured during the weeklong workshop. The team meet early at a hotel which is booked for them to use as their headquarters, diligently working for nine hours a day under the supervision of experts who are on hand to guide them. Each day ends with the students presenting their day’s work to their mentors.

When asked about his personal highlights of the experience, Abhishek focuses on the multicultural makeup of the team, and the way in which the project helped him to develop his time management skills. He describes how he was able to apply what had learnt about strategy and digital transformation on the MoTIS course to his team’s project, Ecolope. Describing the moment when he first heard about the project, he recalled, “when Madame Catherine introduced me to the Hackathon, I thought it’s a real world project and I should definitely take a part in that”.

The project won first prize, leading to an invitation being extended to Abhishek and his teammates to a dinner at the European parliament in Strasbourg, where they had the chance to present their work to the European parliamentaries and deputies.

Abhishek’s story shows the value of studying the MoTIS degree, as well as the importance of showing enthusiasm when opportunities like the European Hackathon arrive.