Nebula X Hackathon

​Singapore's rail network moves millions of commuters every day. Behind the scenes, keeping it reliable, safe, and responsive is one of the toughest engineering challenges in the city. Nebula X is a hackathon organised by Land Transport Authority (LTA), in collaboration with National University of Singapore (NUS), Google Cloud, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT), SBS Transit (SBST), and China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), bringing students and builders together to tackle real problems from the rail industry with real data.

​🛠 The Problem Statements

​Teams will choose one of three challenges drawn directly from day-to-day rail operations:

​01 — AI Maintenance Scheduler Our assets needs constant maintenance, upgrades and renewals which are all squeezed into short engineering hours when services pause, flooding schedulers with competing track requests. Juggling sector availability, work compatibility and engineer availability, conflicts are common and resolving them means tedious meetings and manual coordination.

​Build a tool that automatically detects conflicts between maintenance requests, flags them clearly, suggests alternatives and automates the scheduling process.

​02 — Smart Travel Companion LTA’s network moves millions of commuters daily. Keeping a transit system of this scale running smoothly requires constant, real-time coordination to prevent bottlenecks before they occur. Managing passenger surges, varying train frequencies, and shifting commuter flows requires intelligent, data-driven decisions every single minute.

​Build a smart commuter companion app that delivers proactive decision support during planned and unplanned events, tailored to commuters' needs.

​03 — Predictive Fault Detection Modern rail networks are massive, interconnected digital ecosystems. Every single second, thousands of subsystems; from smart doors and braking relays to bogie temperature sensors stream rich, high-velocity telemetry data. Hidden inside this massive sea of data are the subtle, early signatures of wear and tear. Data combined with intelligence is powerful. With that power, we can achieve proactive precision—ensuring that maintenance teams can intervene early.

​Build a tool embedded with models (AI/ML) to detect anomalies amidst the signals from various train systems. Identify the best models to be used to detect future anomalies.

​🏆 Prizes

• ​First Prize: $5,000

• ​Second Prize: $3,000

• ​Third Prize: $2,000

• ​Fourth to Tenth Prizes: $600 per team

• ​Best Aesthetics: $200

• ​Most Popular: $200

• ​Best Social Impact: $200

​📅 Tentative Programme (subject to changes)

​Day 1 — 18 Sep @ NUS Engineering Auditorium (EA)

• ​4.30pm - 5.00pm: Arrival & Registration

• ​5.00pm – 5.30pm: Welcome Address & Briefing

• ​5.30pm - 6.00pm: Kahoot Community Quiz

• ​6.00pm – 6.45pm: Dinner

• ​6.45pm - 7.45pm: Google Cloud AI Workshop

• ​7.45pm – 10.00pm: Hack Development + Networking Bingo

​Day 2 — 19 Sep @ NUS EA

• ​11.30am – 12.30pm: Lunch

• ​4.00pm - Submission of hacks

• ​4.30pm – 10.00pm: Judging and selection of Top 10 teams

​Finals & Closing — 20 Sep @ NUS EA

• ​9.30am - 10.00am: Announcement of 10 finalist teams via Telegram and in person

• ​11.00am – 11.30am: Recruitment Talk

• ​11.30am - 12.30pm: Lunch

• ​1.00pm - 3.15pm: Finalist presentations

• ​3.15pm - 4.15pm: Judges deliberation

• ​4.15pm – 5.15pm: Closing Ceremony — announcement of winners and token of appreciation distribution (Champion and runner-ups will receive their awards on Nebula X Day, presented by the Guest of Honour)

​Each team must send at least one representative to attend physically on Day 2 for confirmation of their submission.

​👥 Team Requirements

• ​Teams of 3–4 members

• ​Each team must appoint a team leader

• ​One registration per team — the team leader registers on behalf of the whole team

• ​Team names must be in English only — no symbols or explicit language. The organisers reserve the right to reject a team name or request a change.

• ​Team members of selected teams will be notified accordingly.

• ​Organisers may request for proof of student identity.

​❓ Questions?

​Head over to our website and refer to our FAQ section. Follow our Instagram @nebulax_hackathon for more updates.

Interested but can't find teammates? Head over to our Discord server to find other interested hackers!