Drone Defense Hackathon

Participated in the Drone Defense Hackathon, a major European defense innovation event held at the Grand Palais in Paris, bringing together 200+ engineering students (selected from thousands) to design and prototype drone-based solutions for real-world military use cases.

As President of DaVinciBot, I led the initiative end-to-end:

• Recruited and structured a multidisciplinary team of engineers
• Managed the application process and secured our team's selection among highly competitive candidates
• Defined the technical direction and coordinated execution during the hackathon

Over an intensive 48 hour cycle, we developed a functional prototype addressing drone communication and operational constraints in contested environments.

A key contribution was the design and implementation of a real-time video transmission system using low-frequency RF, enabling more robust communication in environments where conventional links are unreliable. This component was engineered with reusability in mind and is now a foundation for future DaVinciBot projects.

Beyond the technical deliverable, the experience involved:

• Rapid prototyping and testing in a 1,000 m² live drone arena
• Iterating under real-world constraints inspired by defense scenarios
• Engaging with mentors, defense experts, and AI specialists to validate and challenge our approach

Although the project did not reach the final stage, the technical feedback confirmed the relevance and scalability of our solution, particularly regarding resilient communication systems for drones.

This experience strengthened my ability to:

• Lead high-performing teams under pressure
• Translate complex constraints into actionable engineering solutions
• Build systems with both practical deployment considerations and long-term reuse in mind