Product Hackathons for Innovative Development

The project was initiated to address the evolving needs in education and industry for more effective collaboration and innovation in product design and development. Based on previous successful collaborations among the partners (UL-FME, UZ-FSB, PoliMi and TUW), we have identified gaps in current educational methods, especially in preparing students for intensive work in digital, globalized engineering workplaces. Students often lack practical experience in industry-oriented projects and entrepreneurial skills, leaving them inadequately prepared for the demands of the market. At the same time, industry faces challenges of adapting to rapid technological change, embracing open innovation and collaborating with different stakeholders in digital environments. To address these challenges, the project focused on introducing product hackathons as a of methodology and a series of examples to enhance university-industry collaboration. These hackathons, supported by digital collaboration tools, aim to foster innovation by involving students, faculty and companies in solving real-world industrial problems. This approach also facilitates skills development, strengthens employability and supports industry's adaptation to new business model.

The project aimed to achieve two main objectives: to improve teaching and learning methods in engineering education and to foster collaboration between academia and industry through open innovation. To this end, the project introduced a novel methodology that integrates product hackathons as the founding elements of the product development process. These hackathons provided a platform for rapid ideation and problem solving, allowing students to work on real-world industrial challenges while developing skills relevant to the digital and globalized market. The project also focused on identifying and adapting digital tools to support efficient collaboration in physical and virtual environments, overcoming geographical barriers to innovation. By adapting the hackathon format to the development of physical products, the project aimed to foster students' creativity and entrepreneurial skills while providing companies with access to innovative solutions from external participants. In addition, three consecutive joint courses in the form of two online hackathons and one physical hackathon served as a testing ground for testing and refining the methodology to ensure it aligned with the evolving needs of education and industry.

During the implementation of the ProHackin' project, a series of structured and methodological activities were carried out to achieve the project objectives. In particular, these activities aimed to develop and validate a methodology for conducting product hackathons to foster open innovation between universities and industry. The activities were carried out systematically over three years, each focusing on different but interconnected aspects of the project. In the first year, the main focus was on formulating a baseline methodology for product hackathons. Extensive research was conducted to create a foundational framework that would integrate product hackathons into the product development process. In this phase we identified and evaluated suitable design methods and digital tools that can support intensive development tasks in both physical and virtual environments. All these activities resulted in PR1. In parallel, we found an industrial partner, Siemens, who provided an industrial development challenge for the engineering students to tackle, and conducted a series of hackathons based on the preliminary results and findings of PR1. The hackathons were tailored to the tasks of the industry project and the different stages of the design process, including ideation, conceptualization, and embodiment of the product. Together with PR1, these activities also led into PR2. The second year focused on developing detailed guidelines for the delivery of product hackathons within university courses and curricula. These guidelines were designed to ensure adaptability to different educational environments. At the same time, best practices were compiled to support educators and organizations in the effective delivery of product hackathons. To validate these efforts, the methodology was tested and refined through new innovation tasks and their implementation in several university courses. This expanded application allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the usability and effectiveness of the methodology and ensured that it is flexible enough to meet the diverse needs of education and industry. The activities of the second year thus resulted in PR3 and PR4. In the third year, the focus shifted to the validation and dissemination of the developed methodology and guidelines. Practical applications and stakeholder feedback played a crucial role in this phase to ensure that the methodology was robust and applicable in a variety of contexts. Materials were produced and finalized to facilitate the adoption of the methodology by external organizations. The validation process included application of the product hackathon methodology regular curriculum and also through two multiplier events to secondary students on a summer school and to university students on an Erasmus exchange to UL-FME to apply the methodology to their use cases and provide feedback that was incorporated into the final project deliverables. These activities led directly to PR5 and PR6, as well as the finalization and updating of all previous PRs. Throughout the project, joint product development courses were organized annually in collaboration with industry partners who provided design tasks for the innovation challenges. Each course was structured to include an introductory event to launch the innovation challenge, where the product hackathon was tested live or virtually, and a final event where students presented their developed product solutions. The live events also included transnational project meetings where the project staff analysed the results of the previous activities and worked on refining the project results. The project also established a collaborative network among students, universities, and industrial companies. This network was instrumental in developing innovative solutions through teamwork and open innovation practices. By participating in the project-based courses, students acquired various skills, including entrepreneurship, teamwork, digital tools proficiency, and virtual communication. Finally, dissemination of project results was consistently carried out throughout the project. These efforts targeted a wider audience of industry, academia and students, using four multiplier events and various communication channels to ensure the wide adoption of the developed methodology and best practices. These structured activities ensured the successful development, testing, and validation of a comprehensive methodology for product hackathons, enabling open innovation and enhancing collaboration between academia and industry.

The ProHackin' project has successfully delivered a number of concrete outputs and results aligned with its objectives. Centre of the project was the development of a comprehensive methodology for conducting product hackathons tailored for both physical and virtual environments (PR1). This methodology addresses numerous design and organizational aspects, including the use of digital tools for problem solving, idea generation, solution visualization, and collaborative product design. It also includes organizational considerations such as the duration of the hackathon, the complexity of the tasks, the expected outcomes, and the evaluation methods. The methodology was thoroughly validated through a series of case studies conducted in joint product development courses with students from partner universities and industry partners (PR2). These real-world applications provided invaluable insights and refinements that ensured the robustness and adaptability of the methodology to different contexts. The results of these validations were integrated in the creation of a manual to support teachers and institutions in implementing product hackathons effectively within academic curricula (PR3). This manual provides a step-by-step framework for organizing and running hackathons with the aim of improving learning outcomes and promoting innovative teaching methods. The integration of hackathons into regular university courses was another important achievement of the project (PR4). The findings from the case studies were used to integrate innovative learning methods into regular academic courses. In addition, comprehensive guidelines were developed to support the implementation of product hackathons in different scenarios, including those in non-academic environments (PR5). These guidelines are designed to be adaptable and provide a flexible framework for different applications. As part of its dissemination strategy, the project produced a compilation of best practices that showcase successful implementations of product hackathons (PR6). These examples serve as practical references for educators, industry professionals, and organizations seeking to pursue similar approaches. In addition, students and staff participating in the hackathons gained entrepreneurial skills, teamwork, and ICT skills. Other benefits included improved foreign language skills, improved digital competencies, increased student engagement and enhanced career development opportunities. In addition to these six formal outcomes, the consortium produced an additional document explaining the implications of the project and the ProHackin’ methodology. All formal outcome documents (PR1-PR7) were translated into all languages of the project partners (Croatian, German, Italian and Slovenian) and published on the project website alongside the originals in English. The project results were made available to a wide audience through scientific papers, presentations at conferences and multiplier events, as well as through materials published on the project website. These dissemination efforts ensure the wide availability of the project methods and practices so that they can be adopted by a wide range of stakeholders. In addition to these direct results, the project also led to various spin-off results such as twelve new industry solutions and several other concepts, at least four student theses and numerous publications in the (social) media. Overall, the ProHackin' project has made a significant contribution to the advancement of engineering education by embedding innovative, collaborative and practical approaches in academic and professional development processes.