Student Achievements
Team Cryptonite Shines at the International Cyber AI Cup 2025
MIT Manipal is proud to announce that Team Cryptonite, represented by Varun Naik (Third Year, Information Technology), Pratham Shah, and Shreyas Nayak (Second Year, School of Computer Engineering), under the mentorship of Dr. Nisha P. Shetty, has secured Third Place in the International Cyber AI Cup Challenge 2025 organized by the International Cyber Security Data-Mining Society (ICSDS) and the organizing committee of the 16th International Cybersecurity and Generative AI (CyberAI Cup 2025).
This prestigious global competition witnessed participation from 1,021 teams representing 391 universities across 52 countries. Team Cryptonite’s achievement highlights the technical excellence, innovation, and dedication nurtured at MIT Manipal.In recognition of their outstanding performance, the team received an award and a cash prize of 500 NZD (New Zealand Dollars). Heartiest congratulations to Team Cryptonite and Dr. Nisha P. Shetty on this remarkable achievement.
MIT–COS Inspires Students to Lead Beyond the Classroom.
The Centre for Outdoor Studies (COS), MIT Manipal, continues to empower students to grow as confident leaders and communicators through experiential learning. A testament to this vision is Riana Mammen, a third-year student at MAHE, who recently delivered a TEDx Talk at GIBS, Delhi, titled “Cycling 400km Through Spiti Valley.” Her talk, inspired by her COS-led expedition, recounted leading seven students on a 20-day, 400+ km high-altitude cycling journey through Spiti Valley — an experience that tested endurance, decision-making, and emotional strength.
Her journey with adventure began in her first year of college when she signed up for the Centre for Outdoor Studies flagship programme, 'The Adventurer'. That decision would go on to completely reshape her time at MAHE. COS gave Riana the opportunity to explore, learn, and grow across multiple domains. She found her path in leadership and expedition organisation, and the Centre provided her with the mentorship and opportunities to step into those roles.
Through initiatives like The Adventurer, MIT, COS inspires students to step out of their comfort zones, fostering resilience, teamwork, and leadership that extend far beyond the classroom.
Team Manipal BioMachines Wins Gold at iGEM 2025
Team Manipal BioMachines from MIT–MAHE achieved remarkable success at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition 2025, held in Paris, France. The team received a Gold Medal for their innovative project, recognizing their excellence in research, innovation, and human practices.
In addition to this recognition, the team was nominated for the Best Agriculture Project among 31 international teams in the Agriculture track, underscoring the global significance and impact of their work. This achievement reflects MIT–MAHE’s continued commitment to fostering research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and excellence in biotechnology and synthetic biology.
Team Parikshit Qualifies for National Finale of IN-SPACe CANSAT India 2024–25
The Parikshit Student Satellite Team (PSST) from MIT–MAHE, guided by Dr. Srinivas G, Department of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering, successfully qualified for the National Finale of the IN-SPACe CANSAT India Student Competition 2024–25. The event, organized by ISRO, IN-SPACe, and the Astronautical Society of India, was held from October 26–30, 2025, at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
The team’s CanSat featured control moment gyroscopes, a hot-wire-based reefed parachute system, and an indigenous NAVIC-compatible GNSS module, demonstrating strong engineering design and innovation. The rigorous competition offered valuable learning experiences in systems engineering, real-world problem-solving, and collaboration with ISRO and NASA-affiliated scientists.
Team Parikshit’s performance earned media recognition from NBC24 News, reflecting MIT–MAHE’s continued commitment to innovation, research, and hands-on learning in space technology.
MIT Manipal’s Team MotoManipal Excels at FMAE MotoStudent India 2025
Team MotoManipal from MIT Manipal achieved remarkable success at the FMAE MotoStudent India Season 4, held at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
The team secured 2nd place overall, along with 2nd place in Design Evaluation, Brakes, and Endurance categories. Their innovative approach, featuring an in-house developed battery pack, data acquisition system, and lightweight aluminum 6061 chassis, exemplifies the spirit of creativity, teamwork, and technical excellence.
This achievement highlights MIT Manipal’s strong focus on hands-on learning, research, and innovation in the field of electric mobility and motorsports engineering. Congratulations to Team Moto Manipal on this stellar performance.
Navmarg Wins at Mangaluru Blue 2025
Navmarg Research and Technologies Pvt. Ltd., an MIT Manipal-incubated startup, was recognized among the Top 3 Startups and declared the Winner of the Mangaluru Blue Track at Mangaluru Technovanza 2025. The felicitation ceremony was held on 25th September 2025 in the presence of Hon’ble IT & BT Minister of Karnataka, Shri Priyank Kharge, Mr. Mohandas Pai, and other distinguished guests.
Competing against more than 60 startups from across Karnataka, Navmarg secured investment commitments from leading venture capitalists and HNIs of the Mangaluru Cluster. The company also received CSR interest from Nasscom Foundation, Yotta, and others to deploy 30 METAL, Arsenic Removal Units in girls’ residential schools in Bihar—strengthening its mission toward sustainable water solutions.
Team Project Manas Secures 3rd Place at IGVC 2025, USA
Team Project Manas, the official AI and robotics student team of the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), MAHE, secured third place globally in the AutoNAV Challenge at the International Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) 2025, held at Oakland University, Michigan, USA.
The team also became the second Indian team ever to successfully complete the AutoNAV course, a fully autonomous navigation challenge testing vehicle perception, control, and decision-making capabilities.
Competing against more than 25 international teams, Project Manas showcased technical excellence, innovation, and teamwork in the field of autonomous systems and intelligent robotics. The achievement underscores MIT’s focus on research-driven, experiential learning and its commitment to fostering global competitiveness among students.
Team Cryptonite Wins at Cyber Security Grand Challenge 2.0
We are delighted to announce that Team Cryptonite — Adwait Gupta, Poorvi Kanodia, Jayapal Ashwin Nair, and Aayush Barhate — from MIT Manipal has been shortlisted in the Cyber Security Grand Challenge 2.0 (Idea Stage) and awarded a ₹5 lakh prize. Conducted by DSCI under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, this prestigious nationwide competition promotes innovation and excellence in cybersecurity.
Heartiest congratulations to the team on this remarkable milestone and best wishes for future successes.
We are proud to congratulate Shantanu Bhargava (230957130 – MnC) from Team Cryptonite for securing 3rd Place at SuperTeamCTF, winning a cash prize of ₹27,000. SuperTeamCTF, organized by Superteam, is a premier 24-hour competition within the Solana ecosystem, challenging participants with cryptographic puzzles, dApp exploitation, and blockchain security tasks.
This remarkable achievement highlights our students’ growing expertise in Web3 security and reflects MIT Manipal’s commitment to fostering innovation and excellence. We wish Shantanu and Team Cryptonite continued success and many more milestones ahead.
Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal achieved outstanding success at the prestigious Samsung EnnovateX AI Challenge 2025, a national-level innovation contest that drew participation from over 1,000 teams across India. Team COD3INE — comprising Chanikya Gajjarapu, Nithya Reddy Lingala, Vikranth EC, and Varsha EC — secured the First Prize, winning ₹1,00,000 at the Grand Finale held on 18 September 2025 at Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru.
Their innovative project, OD-MAS (On-Device Multi-Agent Security), is a groundbreaking privacy-first behavioral biometrics system that continuously verifies identity from touch, typing, and motion patterns entirely on-device, eliminating cloud dependency. This was the first-ever fully on-device, multi-sensor, multi-agent approach demonstrated in the competition, and Team COD3INE was the only team to deliver it end-to-end.
Heartiest congratulations to Team COD3INE on this outstanding achievement, which reflects MIT Manipal’s spirit of innovation, excellence, and leadership in emerging technologies.
CSE (AIML) Students Shine at IISc CodeBot Hackathon’25
Heartiest congratulations to Neha J Rao, Dhyey Patel, Meeti Mehta, and Arnav Sahu from CSE (AIML) for securing the Second Runner-Up position at the prestigious CodeBot Hackathon’25, organized by ARTPARK, IISc Bengaluru, on 17th July 2025.
The national-level event received over 65 proposals, with 27 advancing to the poster round. Our students made it to the top 8 finalists, presenting their innovative project WatchTowerX: Smart AI Video Surveillance & Incident Detection, designed for impactful applications in Smart Cities. Their remarkable achievement highlights the team’s technical excellence, creativity, and vision. Wishing them continued success and many more accolades in the future.
MIT Manipal Students Win Top Honours at SAP HACKFEST 2025
Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal, achieved remarkable success at the prestigious SAP HACKFEST 2025, a national-level innovation challenge that saw participation from over 5,000 teams and 26,000 students across India. The competition focused on developing technology-driven solutions for sustainable livelihoods, cultural sustainability, and equitable economics.
MIT Manipal’s team 'Compile and Conquer' — comprising Khushi Sethi, Vaibhav Maheshwari, Shreeya Mohanty, and Sahil Shah — secured the first prize, winning ₹1,25,000 at the grand finale held on 7th August 2025 at PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore.
Two other teams from MIT, Silicon Sparks and Sandwich Abusers, received special mentions for their innovative contributions. This achievement highlights MIT Manipal’s commitment to nurturing talent, fostering creativity, and driving impactful technological solutions at the national level.
Navmarg from MIT-MAHE Featured in ‘Bharat ke Innovators’ by YourStory
Navmarg, a promising startup incubated at the Innovation Center of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), MAHE, has been selected for the prestigious ‘Bharat ke Innovators’ initiative by YourStory, a national platform celebrating entrepreneurial excellence across India.
The program highlights startups that have been operational for at least two years, are technology-driven or scalable in nature, and demonstrate significant impact, especially in Tier 2, Tier 3, or rural regions of the country.
Navmarg has been recognized for its magnetically induced molecular separation technology, developed to address heavy metal contamination in drinking water and support bio-sensing applications in the WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) sector. Their innovation tackles a critical public health concern, especially in underserved communities. Congratulations to the team on this national honour.
Congratulations to Team Manipal Racing (C) for representing MIT Manipal at the International BAJA 2025 Championship held in Maryland, USA.
Competing among 124 elite student teams from across the globe, our team stood tall in a field of fierce engineering talent—one of only three teams from India to qualify for this prestigious global stage.
Though stepping onto the international arena after a 7-year hiatus—our last appearance being in 2019—Team TMR (C) displayed remarkable resolve and technical finesse across all categories: design, static, and dynamic events. Their performance stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the world.
To the team: your journey inspires. Keep building. Keep racing. The road ahead is yours to own.
In a brilliant display of innovation and engineering finesse, Team SolarMobil from Manipal Institute of Technology carved a name for itself at the Electric Solar Vehicle Championship 2025, held in Greater Noida from March 27 to April 2. Competing among the finest minds across the nation, the team not only raced ahead with the Fastest Car of the event, achieving a remarkable top speed of 95 kmph, but also swept several prestigious awards.
Their solar vehicle, a testament to thoughtful design and technical precision, earned the Best Design, Best Aesthetics & Ergonomics, and Best Acceleration awards. Their pursuit of excellence was further recognised with Runner-up titles in Innovation, B-Plan, and Cost Report categories. The crowning jewel was the Future Award, a nod to their visionary approach to sustainable transport. Congratulations to the team..
Heartiest congratulations to Team Parikshit on their remarkable achievement at the IPSC Conference 2025 at IIT Roorkee. The team had the privilege of presenting their satellite and CANSAT model to industry leaders, including the ISRO Chairman, IN-SPACe Director, prominent space startup founders, and Dr. Murthy S. Gudipati from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
These interactions provided invaluable insights into the future of space exploration and the growing role of student-led initiatives. Wishing them continued success in their journey toward mastering satellite technology and contributing to advancements in space research.
MIT Manipal has once again demonstrated its brilliance on the grand stage of innovation, emerging victorious at the prestigious Hacksplosion Hackathon hosted by Deloitte India in Bengaluru. Heartfelt congratulations to the stellar team—Aditya Gosavi, Krish Didwania, Kavish Paresh Shah, and Shaurya Gupta—whose ingenuity and perseverance, guided by their mentor Dr. Manoj from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, have brought this remarkable honor to the institution.
Their triumph is adorned with a coveted first prize, a well-earned reward of ₹1,00,000, and a momentous spot offer from Deloitte with a 12 LPA package for one of the students. Furthermore, all students from teams have secured prestigious internship opportunities. This success stands as a testament to their passion for technological excellence, marking the dawn of even greater accomplishments ahead.
Heartiest congratulations to Team Manipal Racing Electric (TMR-E) for their outstanding performance at SAE INDIA eBAJA 2025 Phase-3, held at B. V. Raju Institute of Technology, Telangana recently. Competing against 88+ teams, TMRE secured an impressive ninth place overall and won first place in Engineering Design and Sled Pull, second in Maneuverability, and third in Overall Dynamics.
Their innovation and dedication were recognized by industry experts from Volvo, Renault Nissan, Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, ANSYS, and Altair. It was an honor for the team to present their lightest 4WD electric ATV to Mr. C. V. Raman, CTO of Maruti-Suzuki India and President of SAE INDIA. Their achievement reflects MIT’s commitment to excellence in engineering and innovation.
Wishing TMRE continued success in their journey toward shaping the future of electric mobility. Congratulations once again on this well-deserved accomplishment.
Recent Achievements of Team Cryptonite in Cybersecurity Competitions.
Special congratulations to team Cryptonite for your outstanding success in recent cybersecurity and hackathon competitions, securing top positions at both national and international levels.
The team’s hard work and dedication have led to yet another series of victories, reinforcing our position among the top cybersecurity teams in the country. Few among them are: Smart India Hackathon 2024 held on Dec 11-12- 1st Place won ₹1,00,000; CRAW CTF held on Jan 19, 2025 – 1st Place (₹25,000) and KJSSE CTF 2.0 Feb 8, 2025– 1st Place (₹15,000).
The team also excelled in online competitions, securing first place in cruXipher 2024 (BITS Hyderabad, ₹16,000) and Kashi CTF (IIT BHU Varanasi, ₹20,000). They placed second in BITSCTF 2025 (BITS Goa, ₹10,000) and third in both Codefest CTF 2025 (IIT BHU Varanasi, ₹10,000) and EHACKS CTF 2025 (Delhi Technological University).
National Recognition: We are proud to have secured 3rd place on the CTFtime national leaderboard for 2024.
Priyanshu Panchal, a B.Tech (DSE) student at MIT, Manipal, has been honored with the Governor Acharya Award for his outstanding academic and co-curricular achievements.
The award was presented during Bhartiya Bhasha Utsav, a celebration of India’s diverse linguistic and cultural heritage. Recognizing excellence beyond academics, the prestigious honor comes with a scholarship of Rs. 15,000 and acknowledges exceptional performance in intra-institution, inter-collegiate, inter-university, national, and international competitions.
Priyanshu is among only five recipients across Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, making this a moment of great pride for MIT. His dedication to academic excellence, innovation, and leadership continues to inspire his peers.
MIT congratulates Priyanshu Panchal on this remarkable achievement.
We are proud to that our team Loop MIT has emerged victorious at the Global Hyperloop Competition 2025 held at IIT Madras. The team secured first place in Pod Demonstration and earned the prestigious 'Best Mechanical Subsystem Design' award. Their dedication, innovation, and relentless pursuit of excellence over the past two years have been truly inspiring.
Heartfelt congratulations to LoopMIT for this remarkable achievement. This is just the beginning of many more groundbreaking accomplishments. Onward and upward.
Heartiest congratulations to Team Formula Manipal, for an outstanding performance at Formula Bharat 2025, held at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore. Your team secured an overall 3rd place, marking your best-ever finish in seven years and a significant achievement as you fully transitioned from a combustion vehicle to an electric one.
Your relentless dedication and technical expertise were evident as you became the first team to clear Mechanical Inspection and the second team to clear Accumulator Inspection. You also excelled in the Static Events, securing 3rd place in Cost & Manufacturing and Engineering Design, along with winning the Best Powertrain Award.
We are incredibly proud of Formula Manipal and your success, and we look forward to witnessing even greater achievements in the future.
Congratulations to Ms. Nivetha Sri P (Reg. No. 210924120), a BTech Biotechnology student, who participated in the Semester Abroad Program at SupBiotech University, France and has been offered a prestigious Research Internship at NeuroDev Lab, Paris.
Wishing her great success in this exciting new journey.
MotoManipal Shines at MotoStudent India Season 3: Team MotoManipal has achieved remarkable success at MotoStudent India Season 3, held at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore. Competing against top teams, our team secured 1st place in the Brake Test and 2nd place in the Acceleration Test, reaching an impressive top speed of 132 km/h on track.
Our in-house 84V battery pack and lightweight aluminum 6061 chassis showcase our commitment to innovation in electric vehicle technology, pushing the boundaries of performance and sustainability.
Congratulations to the entire team for this outstanding achievement.
Heartiest congratulations to Team Manipal Racing for your remarkable performance in the national-level SAE BAJA 2025 competition held at NATRAX, Pithampur, near Indore. Your outstanding achievements in multiple events make us extremely proud. Wishing you continued success in all your future endeavors.
A total of 48 teams across INDIA were selected for the 3rd Physical phase of the competition under I C engine category and 18 teams from H- BAJA category. From MIT, a contingent of 26 students, cutting across different streams, took active part in the event.
