Dassault Systèmes said on the 13th that it will host the "16th AAKRUTI Innovation Contest" for students worldwide.
This year's AAKRUTI will cover four themes: Robotics, solving community problems, healthcare innovation, and mobility. Participating students will develop projects that can solve real-world problems based on design thinking and engineering principles. The projects will use Dassault Systèmes' 3DExperience platform and the SolidWorks application.
This year's contest also expands awards and benefits for participants. The winning team will receive a total of $20,000 (about 30 million won) in prize money along with SolidWorks licenses. In addition, all participants can use the program license, opportunities for certifications such as CSWA and CSWP, and Dassault Systèmes' design ecosystem including the 3DExperience platform.
In the last contest, more than 2,000 certifications were provided. Converted into monetary value, that amounts to about $396,000. Dassault Systèmes supports about $1 million worth of certifications, software licenses, and prize money each year for AAKRUTI participants. Since the contest launched, more than 75,000 students from about 1,000 educational institutions in 37 countries have taken part in AAKRUTI.
The global finals of this contest are scheduled to take place at Dassault Systèmes' "3DExperience World 2027" in Nashville, United States.
Suchit Jain, vice president of strategy at Dassault Systèmes, said, "AAKRUTI began with the belief that with the right platforms, tools, and encouragement, anyone can bring amazing ideas to life," and noted, "It is becoming a stage where students turn ideas into practical solutions and create meaningful change in society."