Students from the Department of Mechatronics Engineering at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro, have won the Special Award in Accessibility at the national final of the Alibaba Cloud AI Hackathon Pakistan 2026, held in Islamabad on October 24, 2026. Their project, Saans, is an offline-first web application that helps frontline health workers screen children under five for tuberculosis.
What happened?
At the national final in Islamabad, the MUET team picked up the Special Award in Accessibility for Saans, along with a prize of $1,000 and 500 Alibaba Cloud credits. The award recognises projects that make technology easier for people to use. MUET congratulated the winning students, their mentors and faculty members, saying the achievement reflects the university’s commitment to innovation and technology-driven solutions to social challenges.
Key details:
- Saans is an English and Urdu, offline-first web application for frontline health workers screening children under five for tuberculosis, using guidelines aligned with those of the World Health Organization (WHO).
- The offline-first design means the tool works without a constant internet connection, which matters in rural communities and low-resource clinics where connectivity is weak or unavailable.
- The hackathon was organised by Alkhidmat Foundation’s Bano Qabil programme with Alibaba Cloud, under the theme AI for Pakistan’s Future.
- Teams from several universities placed in the national final; FAST-NUCES teams took the Grand Champion title and several track awards, while MUET’s win came through the special accessibility award.
- The prize of $1,000 and cloud credits gives the team resources to continue developing Saans, including hosting the application or adding features.
What it means for people in Pakistan:
Tuberculosis in young children is often missed or diagnosed late, because symptoms such as persistent cough, fever and weight loss overlap with other common childhood illnesses, and Pakistan is among the countries with the highest TB burden in the world. A tool that guides a health worker through the right questions in English or Urdu, even without an internet connection, could help make sure children who need referral are not overlooked. The award also shows Pakistani university students building practical AI tools for real local problems rather than just ideas on paper.
