NITK captures national aerospace crown with jet engine health monitor

Mangaluru: Students belonging to National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, claimed the top rank at Aerothon 2026 by outperforming over 640 competing teams from across India. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and IIT Indore together conducted the national aerospace hackathon.

Omkar Kharade and Shubham Shah, pre-final year mechanical engineering undergraduates, joined forces with Diya Taneja, a pre-final year electronics and communication engineering student, and Maxon David Nazareth, a second-year mechanical engineering student, to form the winning side.

Selection came after a 24-hour hackathon held at IIT Indore on 7 and 8 August that narrowed the field to 20 finalist teams. The prize money stood at 50,000 Rupees.

Registration for Aerothon 2026 exceeded 2,300 participants, all of whom were invited to confront practical aerospace engineering tasks with the aid of data-driven techniques and machine learning. The NITK entry tackled the challenge known as Physics-Informed Digital Twin for Real-Time Four-Stage Turbojet Health Monitoring.

Their architecture draws in continuous sensor readings and employs machine learning to anticipate specific turbojet failure modes before those failures materialise. The approach seeks to enhance flight safety and cut turnaround times for manufacturers of engines, providers of maintenance and airline operators.

Members of the team indicated they plan to advance the project in the direction of commercialisation and remain open to contact with alumni and specialists working in aerospace and aviation.