Hack, build, repeat: Constructor GenAI Hackathon powers 48 hours of innovation
48 hours, 180 students and 69 projects: these are a few of the numbers that powered the the Constructor GenAI Hackathon that ran from March 27 to 30 at Constructor University. Organized by the Beyond the Pond Alumni Association in partnership with BMW, Loveable Platform, Constructor Tech and Constructor Knowledge Labs, the hackathon gave participating students the opportunity to gain hands-on, industry-level experience and showcase their skills for a chance to win prizes like internship opportunities, Lovable credits and Constructor University merchandise.
“The hackathon was an outstanding event, bringing together strong talent and highly relevant ideas around emerging technologies like Multi-agents,” said Ishansh Gupta, AI Strategy Lead at BMW Group and a post-doctoral researcher and lecturer at Constructor University. “For BMW Group, initiatives like this create a direct bridge to academia, allowing us to engage with top students, strengthen our talent pipeline and observe cutting-edge concepts in action. It also gives us the opportunity to evaluate promising ideas for potential integration into our future development backlogs while deepening collaboration with leading institutions like Constructor University.”
Whether a developer, designer, strategist, or simply AI-curious – the hackathon was open to everyone. Students joined forces in teams of up to three to develop real-world enterprise solutions with actual industry impact. The participating companies offered projects in three thematic areas: AI for People & Leadership Strategy by BMW, Autonomous Racing Algorithms by Constructor Knowledge Labs, and Learner Engagement Analysis by Constructor Tech. All projects were built on Lovable, a no-code platform that makes AI development accessible to everyone.
After 48 hours of coding, during which the teams were supported by industry experts and alumni from the respective categories, the competition came to an end, with winners announced the following Monday morning. In the Constructor Knowledge Labs category, Davit Pheikrishvili, Giorgi Ambokadze, and Daviti Zedginidze emerged victorious. For Constructor Tech, Konark Konark, Amirali Iranmanesh, Sibel Yonuz, and Roza Keshishyan took the win, and for BMW, Brook Balkachew Nigatu, Daniel Andres Gallardo, and Liul Alemayehu Zewge were the winners.
The winners were delighted to receive a certificate of achievement, Constructor merchandise, Lovable credits, and the opportunity to apply for internships at the participating companies. Furthermore, all winners were guaranteed a spot in the Constructor Accelerator Program.
The event kicked off on Friday afternoon with a keynote speech by Constructor University alumnus Philipp Brandt, now an assistant professor of sociology at Sciences Po University in Paris and author of 'Inside Data Science: Hackers and the Making of a New Profession'. “The rise of generative AI demands comprehensive responses,” said Brandt with respect to his keynote. “It was encouraging to see interest on campus in my integration of history, machine learning, and sociology, ideas that I began developing here in Bremen.”
This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic 'AI for Real-World Decision-Making: From Prototype to Impact'. The speakers included:
- Ishansh Gupta, AI Strategy Lead at the BMW Group
- Sergio Correa, Founder and FDE Team Leader at BMW Q Lab
- Philipp Brandt, Constructor University alumnus
- Andreas Birk, Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at Constructor University
- Ilya Shimchik, Team Principal at Constructor Autonomous Racing
- Alexander Tormasov, Professor of Computer Science at Constructor University.