In real industrial environments, critical decisions are often made with incomplete, noisy, or poorly contextualized data. At Therness, our work focuses on reducing uncertainty by transforming raw process data into reliable, actionable decision-support tools.
By combining thermographic sensing with heterogeneous industrial data sources, we support the monitoring, analysis, and optimization of complex processes in real-world industrial environments. Our approach brings together data science, software engineering, and applied AI modeling to move from intuition-driven decisions to measurable and traceable outcomes.
The Therness Hackathon is designed around this same philosophy.
Why this hackathon
The Hackathon originates from Therness’s experience as a spin-off of the Politecnico di Torino, founded through academic research activities and thesis work developed within the University.
The initiative aims to bridge the academic world and real industrial environments by offering students and recent graduates the opportunity to work on a technical challenge inspired by the kinds of problems we face every day in our industrial and technological activities.
Through this hackathon, Therness seeks to give back to the university ecosystem that supported its growth, while creating a concrete opportunity to engage with real-world constraints, data, and professional practices.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
- Work on a challenge similar to those encountered in a real company environment;
- Demonstrate technical skills and problem-solving abilities on realistic data;
- Interact directly with the Therness technical team.
We are not looking for perfect solutions. Evaluation will focus on method, reasoning, curiosity, and the ability to build something functional within a limited amount of time.
If you want to understand what it means to work on technologies applied to real industrial contexts, this hackathon is designed for you.
The event
The hackathon will take place from Friday, February 27 to Saturday, February 28, 2026, starting at 2:00 PM, and will be held in person at I3P, the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, in its Sala Agorà, accessible from Corso Castelfidardo 30/A or Via Borsellino 53/N.
Event details:
- Location: I3P, the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, in its Sala Agorà
- Date: February 27–28, 2026
- Working language: English
- Participation: Free of charge
- Overnight stay on site: Allowed
The event is open to everyone, with a particular focus on Master’s students and recent graduates with a technical background, especially in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Software Engineering, and related engineering disciplines.
How to participate
- Teams consist of 3 to 5 participants
- You can register as a team or individually
- Teams may be completed or formed on site at the beginning of the hackathon
- Registration is mandatory via Eventbrite through the official event page
- Participation is exclusively in person and reserved for adults (18+)
Closer to the event, participants may be asked to reconfirm their attendance for organizational purposes, as the hackathon has limited capacity.
[!NOTE] Submitting a registration does not automatically guarantee participation. If the number of applicants exceeds the available spots, registrations will be reviewed and participants will be selected based on motivation and overall fit with the hackathon.
Registrations will close on February 20, 2026.
The technical challenge
The challenge has been designed together with the Therness technical team and reflects a real activity we work on every day in industrial monitoring and data-driven decision support.
The task is divided into two main parts.
Part 1 – Data analysis
Each team will be provided with a real dataset inspired by industrial monitoring scenarios and will be required to:
- Analyze the available data;
- Compute and evaluate relevant performance or accuracy metrics;
- Clearly explain the adopted methodology and technical choices.
The goal is not only to produce numerical results, but to demonstrate data interpretation skills and the ability to justify technical decisions in a realistic context.
Part 2 – Project structure and graphical interface
Teams will develop a simple graphical interface including at least:
- Data visualization through charts;
- Basic control elements (e.g., start/stop);
- Result export functionality;
- A clear and usable interface.
Each team must also:
- Create a GitHub repository;
- Upload the project code;
- Invite the Therness team to the repository.
An enterprise-ready product is not required. Evaluation will focus on clarity, code structure, logic, and overall functionality.
Evaluation criteria
Final evaluation will consider:
- Correctness of the technical approach;
- Code quality and project organization;
- Clarity of the interface and results;
- Ability to explain design and technical choices during the final pitch.
Prizes and opportunities
A total of €2,000 will be awarded:
- €1,500 to the first-place team
- €500 to the second-place team
Beyond the prize, the hackathon represents a concrete professional orientation opportunity. The most interesting participants may be invited to introductory interviews with the Therness team and, if successful, considered for curricular or extracurricular internships or employment opportunities.
Register for the hackathon
Participation in the Therness Hackathon requires mandatory registration through Eventbrite. Secure your spot now!
Regulations
Participation in the Therness Hackathon is subject to acceptance of the official regulations.
The full set of rules, including eligibility criteria, participation requirements, evaluation process, prizes, and organizational details, is available here: Download Official Regulations