From College Curiosity to Building an AI-Powered News Agent

Student Name: Abhyuday Patel
Year: 3rd Year, B.Tech: IIIT Ranchi
Hackathon: Flipr Hackathon 25

Background

When Abhyuday Patel, a 3rd-year engineering student, first heard about the Flipr Hackathon, he saw it as a chance to finally step out of classroom learning and do something real.

Coming from a college where students are encouraged to take part in such events, he was motivated to gain some hands-on exposure. He had done his fair share of coding, but this was different — this time, it wasn’t just about writing code that runs; it was about building something that matters.

He walked into the hackathon with one clear goal — to learn how real-world projects are built and to experience what it actually feels like to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

The Challenge

Every hackathon begins with a problem statement, and while the one given to Abhyuday’s team was interesting, it also came with a few uncertainties.

He quickly realized that understanding the problem is half the challenge — not everything is spelled out for you. There are moments when you need to interpret, discuss, and decide how to move forward as a team.

This experience made him realize how different hackathons are from college assignments. There’s no fixed path — only open-ended possibilities waiting for you to make sense of them.

The Hackathon Experience

Abhyuday describes the overall experience as smooth and structured. The Flipr portal and chat platform kept everything on track — tasks, updates, communication, everything was neatly aligned.

Even though the pressure was real, the environment kept him focused. Having access to mentors and guidance at the right time helped him think more like an engineer solving a problem rather than a student completing a task.

For him, it wasn’t just about winning; it was about understanding how things actually work in real life — and that perspective itself was a win.

The Project: AI-Powered News Agent

The team decided to build something that felt futuristic yet practical — a News Agent.

An intelligent background system that automatically gathers and summarizes news from different websites using AI. The idea was simple: you shouldn’t have to go looking for news — it should come to you.

They used Python, a LLM-based transformer model, and LangChain to bring the concept to life.
The model worked in the background, fetching live news data and structuring it intelligently for end users.

It was a small but solid step toward understanding how agents and AI automation can work together to simplify human effort.

Abhyuday’s Contribution

Abhyuday took full ownership of the backend — building the logic that made the news agent actually work.

He handled API integrations, data flow, and communication between the model and the user interface. In short, he was the person who made sure the engine kept running smoothly behind the scenes.

Through this, he got a clear understanding of how backend systems talk to AI models, how data pipelines are structured, and how much detail goes into making something as “simple” as automated news fetching actually function.

Outcome & Impact

By the end of the hackathon, Abhyuday had gained something far more valuable than a certificate — real-world perspective.

He now had a project he could confidently talk about in interviews — one that wasn’t a typical college mini-project, but something practical, intelligent, and connected to real problems.

He learned how to handle challenges under time pressure, how to think clearly when things don’t work as expected, and most importantly, how to see coding as part of a bigger problem-solving journey.

For him, this hackathon was more than just an event — it was a turning point in how he viewed engineering.

Student Quote

“The Flipr Hackathon gave me a roundabout journey into solving real-world problems.
It wasn’t just about coding — it was about understanding how ideas turn into impactful solutions.”

Closing Thoughts

From being a curious student eager to gain experience to someone who built an AI-powered news agent from scratch — Abhyuday Patel’s journey perfectly captures what Flipr Hackathons are all about.

They’re not just competitions. They’re experiences that teach students how to think, build, and collaborate like engineers.
And for Abhyuday, this one experience opened up an entirely new way of learning — the kind that stays with you long after the hackathon ends.