Delhi NCR, India:  HCL, a US $10.8 billion global conglomerate, today announced winners of the second edition of HCL Jigsaw, India’s premier critical reasoning platform. Crowned as ‘India’s Top Young Problem Solvers’, the winners demonstrated exceptional problem-solving and critical-reasoning skills through creative solutions to real-world problems that they were required to solve during the competition. Launched in April 2021 for students from Grades 6 to 9, HCL Jigsaw is a multi-stage platform designed to assess key 21^st-century skills. The winning students received prizes and gadgets worth Rs. 1 lakh, each and a learning opportunity at HCL Engineering and Innovation labs.
 
Congratulating the winners, Mr. Sundar Mahalingam, President Strategy at HCL Corporation, said, “HCL Jigsaw is a carefully developed program that enables students to test critical 21^st-century skills. This initiative is in line with our organizational philosophy of multiplying human potential and helping people and communities with opportunities to drive deeper impact. Students and parents who participated in the first edition of Jigsaw spoke highly about how it provided a unique experience and this encouraged us to host edition 2 of Jigsaw in quick succession. It was a delight to see young students wear their creative thinking hats to come up with innovative solutions for real-world case scenarios. Congratulations to all the winners.”
 
The participants were selected via a Pan-India Critical Reasoning Olympiad as the qualifier round (or round 1) held earlier this month, using an adaptive multiple-choice questions format. The two-day finale saw participants grouped in teams of three, working together on a common problem in a virtual mystery room set-up. Here participants were assessed on their collaborative skills and creativity. The top three teams, consisting of 36 finalists, were shortlisted to compete in the final stage at an individual level, where they presented their plans to solve a real-world case scenario to an expert jury.
 
Finalists were assigned unique themes to test their problem-solving capabilities. These included Smart Cities (Grade 6), Future of Shopping (Grade 7), Electrical Vehicle (Grade 8), and Creating an Empathetic Healthcare (Grade 9). The top students from each grade (a total of 12 students) were declared the winners of HCL Jigsaw Edition 2.
 
The winners of the second edition of HCL Jigsaw are: 
 

• Grade 9 assessed for designing a Healthcare App for patients, enabling smooth consultation and treatment
  • Aarush Bagdiya, Akshara International School, Pune
  • Neeyati Amit Saini, Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad
  • Nishtha Sehgal, Shiv Nadar School, Noida

 

• Grade 8 assessed on solutions for designing an Electric Vehicle suitable for extreme weather conditions
  • Aanya Rodrigues, Greenwood High School, Bengaluru
  • B. Nitheesh, Devi Academy Senior Secondary School, Chennai
  • Rishabh Vashisht, Podar International School, Hyderabad

 

• Grade 7 assessed for creating a solution for personalizing a hi-tech shopping store
  • Sharvani S, Delhi Public School, Hyderabad
  • Thanya Prasad, Ekya School ITPL, Bengaluru
  • Vedhanshu Gatike, Manthan International School, Hyderabad

 

• Grade 6 assessed for creating a robust technology-led system for a Smart City
  • Mohd. Areeb, Steeping Stones High School, Aurangabad
  • Tanish Kota, Sri Chaitanya Techno School, Bobbili, Andhra Pradesh
  • Udant Kandarpa, Vibgyor High, Bengaluru

 
 
HCL Jigsaw Edition 2 saw representation from the country’s leading schools representing 28 states and seven Union Territories. More than 55% of the qualifying students came from tier 1 cities including Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida, Chandigarh, Pune, and Kolkata.