On 5 November 2026, fourteen student teams walked into the Faculty of Technological Studies at the University of Vavuniya with laptops, an idea and no code. Seven hours later, every one of them had built something real. This was AccroNex 2026, the first edition of the annual hackathon organised by Accron Revolutions in partnership with the Faculty of Technological Studies.
Here's how the day ran, who built what, and who walked away with the trophy.
Why a software company runs a hackathon
Accron Revolutions was founded in Vavuniya and is still headquartered here. Most of our engineers started as interns, and many of them came from this university. We already show up at career fairs and run sessions for students, but a session can only tell you what the industry wants. A hackathon lets you find out whether you can do it.
So we built AccroNex around one idea: give students a single intensive day with real problem statements, real judges, real mentors and real prizes. The tagline on every banner said it plainly: Build beyond limits.
How AccroNex worked
The application theme was "Open Innovation: solve a real problem for real people." Any current undergraduate of the University of Vavuniya could apply, from all three faculties and every academic year, in teams of three or four. Participation and meals were free.
- 2 October: theme announced and registration opened. One form per team, with an idea for a real problem. No prototype or code needed.
- 11–14 October: a panel scored every application on understanding of the problem, approach and ability to build.
- 15 October: finalists announced.
- 5 November: the grand finale, one day, live.
The finale problem statements stayed sealed in "The Vault" until 08:50 on the day. Nobody, finalists included, saw them before the reveal.
Two rules made the day honest. First, every team created a fresh repository in the AccroNex organisation at the reveal, so the first commit was time zero. Second, AI tools were allowed, including ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Cursor and Lovable, but at the final pitch the judges could ask any team member to walk through any part of the product. You could use AI. You couldn't hide behind it.
The opening
Check-in opened at 07:00. The day began in the traditional way, with the lighting of the oil lamp by faculty, guests and the Accron team, followed by the opening address.
Seven hours of building
The Vault opened on stage at 08:50. Live coding ran from 09:20 to 16:30. Mentors checked progress with every team at 11:00 and 14:30, and partway through the build the Vault opened again with one extra requirement every team had to absorb. Real projects change their requirements halfway through. So did this one.
The mentors on the floor
Five industry mentors spent the day moving between tables:
- Mathurangan Parameswaran, Project Manager, Accron Revolutions
- Kirubakaran Karunakaran, Software Engineer, Mammilway
- Kirishihan Raviendran, Associate AI Analyst, Qoria LK
- Yathursan Komaran, Associate React Native Developer, Qtechy
- Varaki Vakeesan, IT Demonstrator, The Open University of Sri Lanka
Code freeze, pitches and judging
At 16:30 the code froze. Each team then pitched what they had built and walked the judges through the working product. The Faculty of Technological Studies contributed the academic judges for the grand finale.
The finalists
Fourteen teams, 53 students, made the finale. They came from every year of study: two first-year teams, three second-year teams, six third-year teams and three final-year teams. Thirteen teams were from the Faculty of Technological Studies and one from the Faculty of Applied Science.
Their problems were as varied as the teams: seven tackled public services, three business and commerce, and one each took on education, environment and energy, health and wellbeing, and personal data security. You can see every finalist team on the AccroNex finalists page.
The winners
The closing ceremony began at 18:00. Here is the podium.
01 Champions: OutofBonds
A second-year team from the Faculty of Technological Studies, working on a business and commerce problem, beat third- and final-year teams to the top spot. They took home LKR 30,000, winner medals, certificates and internship opportunities.
Team members: Kirubaharan Harald Branvan, Krishnapillai Thanuskar, Narendran Kirujan and Sathusan Thangarajah.
02 Runner-up: Team_4rever
A third-year team that tackled a public services problem, winning LKR 15,000, medals and certificates. Team members: Raveenthiran Dilikshan, Yoganantham Sangothayan, Niromy Antonyfrancis and Regirajeswaran Mary Rengel Sosai.
03 Second runner-up: Kryptonians_404
Another second-year team, also on a public services problem, taking medals and certificates. Team members: Selvaratnam Shakeeban, Ravindran Thanushayan and A.S. Arumugan Suvethan.
Every finalist received a certificate of participation and AccroNex 2026 stickers. More importantly, every finalist left with a working product they built in a single day, and a story to tell at their first interview.
Thank you
AccroNex happened because a lot of people said yes.
- The Faculty of Technological Studies, University of Vavuniya, our collaborative partner, for the venue, the academic judges and the trust.
- Our mentors, who gave up a full working day to sit with students.
- Our sponsors and partners: Luxury Cake (silver sponsor), Kanga Motors (supporting partner) and Wildway Photography, our photo and video partner, who took every photo in this post.
- The organising team: Thivakar, Thishan, Gunaneethan, Sewwandi, Yathavan, Kalatharan, Lenogen, Kajakaran, and our hospitality coordinators Manojini, Dilaikshana, Sathurshika and Preetha.
- All 14 finalist teams, and every team that applied.
What's next
AccroNex is an annual hackathon, and 2026 was the first edition. If you're a student who missed it, start preparing now: a public GitHub, a few small real projects, and a habit of building with AI while understanding every line. Our guide From University to IT Industry: What Employers Really Look For is a good place to start.
- Students: follow accronex.net for the next edition, and see our internship openings on the careers page.
- Companies and sponsors: want to mentor, judge or sponsor the next AccroNex? Get in touch.
- Universities: we'd like to bring AccroNex to more campuses. Let's talk.
