From Idea to Victory: My Qualcomm ArkLOL Hackathon Journey!

I’m still buzzing with excitement as I write this. The past few days have been nothing short of surreal, and I can’t wait to share my incredible journey at the Qualcomm ArkLOL Hackathon in Lucknow. Not only was it an intense dive into innovation and teamwork, but I’m beyond thrilled to announce that my team and I – The Invincibles – emerged as the winners!

Yes, you read that right. We took home the top prize. Even now, I’m pinching myself. It was 48 hours of sleepless hustle, wild creativity, unexpected twists, and unforgettable memories. Here’s the full story, from the spark of an idea to hearing our name announced as champions.

The Stage Is Set

The hackathon kicked off on 4th September 2025 in Lucknow. From the moment I entered the venue, the atmosphere hit me: hundreds of laptops open, cables everywhere, whiteboards filled with sketches, and people speaking in tech jargon faster than a coffee machine could keep up with.

For me, the entry badge wasn’t just a piece of plastic—it was a ticket into a battlefield of innovation. And of course, I also had my eyes on that shiny medal waiting at the finish line.

Team Invincibles Assemble

Our team formed pretty quickly. Some of us had worked together before, others were new, but within minutes we felt synced. We called ourselves The Invincibles—half as a joke, half as a prophecy.

During our first brainstorming session, we had some wild ideas:

• An AI that could suggest Lucknowi food pairings (because apparently, I wouldn’t stop talking about kebabs).
• A “hackathon survival kit” app that just pings you to drink water and sleep (which, let’s be real, none of us would follow).
• And my personal favorite joke idea: an AI that automatically generates excuses for missing deadlines.

After the laughs, we got serious. We wanted to build something impactful, something beyond the hackathon buzz. After tossing around a dozen concepts, we locked onto an idea:

ArkEDU – an AI-powered, AR-based education platform to make STEM concepts engaging for high school students.

The Build: Coffee, Code, Chaos

The next 48 hours were pure madness.

I, Rajnikant Dhar Dwivedi, took the role of Lead Developer, which basically meant: less talking, more typing. My keyboard probably hated me by the end.

What we built (professionally speaking):

• AR Object Placement & Interaction – Users could place and manipulate 3D models.
• Interactive Learning Modules – We built a planetary motion simulator where students could tweak variables and instantly see results.
• Gamification – Quizzes, progress trackers, and tiny dopamine hits.
• Clean UI/UX – A design that didn’t make people want to uninstall.

What actually happened (funny side):

• At 3 a.m., one teammate accidentally deleted half our codebase. Luckily, Git saved the day, but for 30 minutes, it was pure chaos.
• Someone spilled Red Bull dangerously close to my laptop. I swear my heart rate was higher than any AI model could predict.
• I realized at one point that I had consumed more cups of coffee than hours of sleep. Probably not recommended by doctors.

And yet, through the bugs and breakdowns, the team spirit was unshakable. We laughed off the disasters, celebrated small wins, and kept moving.

The Mentors and Lessons

Qualcomm brought in some incredible mentors who gave us guidance that was both sharp and practical. One mentor looked at our messy whiteboard sketches and said: “If your idea can’t be explained simply, it’s not ready.” That stuck with me. We refined not just our code but also our story.

Another mentor gave us a tip about optimizing AR object rendering, which literally saved us hours of trial and error. Without those nudges, our final prototype wouldn’t have been nearly as polished.

The Pitch: From Chaos to Clarity

When the deadline hit, we were running on fumes. But presentation time forces you to shift gears. No one cares if your prototype has hidden bugs—they care if your vision makes sense.

We structured our pitch around three things:

• The problem: STEM is often abstract and disengaging for students.
• The solution: Interactive AR modules that bring learning into the real world.
• The impact: Accessible, engaging education that sparks curiosity.

Our demo worked flawlessly (thank the hackathon gods). The judges smiled when they saw planets orbiting around on a phone screen and nodded when we explained how gamification could motivate students. Their questions were tough, but we handled them with confidence.

The Moment of Truth

The waiting period after pitching was brutal. Everyone in the hall was on edge. Jokes stopped. Even coffee couldn’t calm the nerves.

Finally, the announcements began:

• Third place was called.
• Then second.
• And then, the words I’ll never forget: “First place – The Invincibles!”

I don’t even remember standing up. We just screamed, hugged, and probably scared the people sitting next to us. All the exhaustion of 48 hours disappeared in that one second.

Reflections Beyond the Medal

Winning was incredible, but for me, the biggest takeaways were:

• Teamwork beats talent when talent doesn’t work together. We weren’t perfect individually, but together we clicked.
• Resilience matters. Every bug, crash, and spill was a chance to give up. We didn’t.
• Storytelling is as important as code. Judges aren’t buying your prototype; they’re buying your vision.

And of course, the medal itself:

It’s not just a trophy—it’s a reminder that innovation can be fun, messy, and deeply rewarding all at once.

Final Thoughts

Hackathons are more than competitions. They’re playgrounds for curiosity, resilience labs, and memory factories. You walk in with strangers, walk out with teammates, and somewhere in between, you learn things no classroom can teach you.

The Qualcomm ArkLOL Hackathon in Lucknow gave me that experience. It gave me a story I’ll carry with me long after the medal stops shining.

This was my journey from idea to victory. And I can’t wait for the next challenge.

– Rajnikant Dhar Dwivedi
Winner, Qualcomm ArkLOL Hackathon 2025 (Lucknow, 4th September)