Genhack 4 - Hackathon for generative modelling

Urban areas are increasingly exposed to climate-related temperature extremes, and city dwellers are the first witnesses and victims of these impacts. The urban heat island effect—where cities experience higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas due to dense buildings, asphalt, and reduced vegetation—is intensifying heatwaves, increasing energy demand, and worsening air quality.

Given the concentration of populations and infrastructure in cities, there is an urgent need to understand, measure, and mitigate these urban heat effects and to develop new tools for planning resilient urban environments.

The consequences of urban heat islands can be seen in prolonged heat events, elevated nighttime temperatures, and higher risks of heat-related health problems, particularly affecting vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children. Understanding and addressing these effects is critical for creating livable, sustainable, and climate-resilient cities.

The challenge focuses on downscaling weather data to city-scale maps, capturing urban heat domes and enabling accurate indicators of extreme temperatures for decision-making and risk modelling.

The final objective is to evaluate and improve downscaled weather datasets for urban areas, in order to better capture the heat dome effect and provide more accurate temperature estimates in cities.

Create your team among hundreds of students among the top universities around the world!

Let's our jury explain to you this competition. 

Registration : 2025, October 6th to November 7th.

Kick-off : 2025, November 12th at 6pm ( Paris time)

Competition : November 13th to December 4th

                         November 20th: Evaluation #1

                         November 27th : Evaluation #2

                         December 4th : Evaluation #3

https://www.polytechnique.edu/en/form/registration-hackathon-genhack3

Deadline : 2025, November 7th

Data challenge are like marathons: Some people go to compete but most people take part to better themselves and have fun. Whatever the reason is you are at a data challenge, make sure you are upholding the spirit of data challenge by collaborating with other teams, and having fun.

1. As a participant, you must treat all team members, competitors, judges, professors, with respect and courtesy.
2. Hackathon teams will be a maximum of 5 people and a minimum of 3 people.
3. Teams have to be made exclusively of students (from undergraduate to doctoral studies).
4. All your code must be in Python and open source.
5. A monetary prize for a winning team will be shared equally between all team members.
6. Teams can of course gain advice and support from organizers, sponsors, coaches and others.
7. All members of winning teams will have to provide proof of their student status. If not the whole team will be disqualified.
8. Winning teams will have to assist to the closing event either in person or via a visio-conference system.
9. Teams can be disqualified from the competition at the organisers’ discretion. Reasons might include but are not limited to breaking the Competition Rules.
10. The agenda and the evaluation method are susceptible to change, in a fair and appropriate way, in case of unforeseen events.

Any questions ? Please send us an email to:

genhack@polytechnique.fr 

Charles-Albert Lehalle : Professor at Ecole poytechnique.

Jean Pachebat : PhD Student at Ecole polytechnique.

Marine Saux : Project Manager at Ecole polytechnique. 

The GenHack 2025 hackathon was a great success!
• 270+ participants
• 30+ countries represented
• 60 teams**, made up of 3 to 6 members from a single institution or from multiple institutions

🏆 Four teams awarded at GenHack 2025:

UrbanCoolers (Paris Dauphine PSL – France) stood out as the overall winner and received the Best Understanding of the Challenges Award:
• Le Drogoff Ilona
• Laurent Lin
• Mellissa Hafs
• Miled Mayy
• Rabia Lysa Ifsan

Codellera Andina (Politecnico di Milano – Italy) received the Most Meaningful Visualizations Award:
• Molina Ron Maria Fernanda
• Sarmiento Ospina Nataly Alejanda
• Saud Mio Claudia Isabela

PentaGen (Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne, University of Bologna, University College London, University of Trento – France, Italy, United Kingdom) was awarded the Teamwork and Collective Spirit Award:
• De Matteis Victor Gabriele
• Huencho Daniel
• Mabrouk Mohy
• Pignatti Massimo
• Qaisar Muhammad
• Sais Ilyes

ChefAI (University of Bologna) received the Best Modeling and Technical Solution Award:
• Dornescu Andreea
• Issa Eyad Lorenzo
• Preda Matteo
• Tornabene Enrico

🎓 Certificate of Participation

At the end of the challenge, several teams were recognized with a certificate of participation (in alphabetical order):

AfriCan, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) – Côte d’Ivoire
• Adjinda Adekin Olakemi Lucia
• Amed Sawadogo
• Coulibaly Segnindenin Oumar
• Niada Ulrich Boris

AlphaZorn, Politecnico di Milano, University of California Santa Barbara, École polytechnique, Sorbonne University – Italy, USA & France
• Belgnaoui Taha
• Deux-Pancera Chloé
• Doroteo Stephanie
• Misino Carlo
• Zucchetti Davide

Balafon_AI, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) – Côte d’Ivoire
• Coulibaly Foungnigue Adele
• Fofana Aboubacar Cyrille
• Mabiala Bergin

BAT_TEAM, Politecnico di Milano, VU Amsterdam & La Sapienza di Roma – Italy & Netherlands
• Drugman Tito Nicola
• Guirges Beshoy
• Montico Asia

BMF-Z, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) – Côte d’Ivoire
• Balogun John
• Fofana N’Danfloly Adelphe Vianney
• Mouhi Christ-Emmanuel
• Zongo Messou Alphée Colombe

ClimateCrafters, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) – Côte d’Ivoire
• Gbe Ven Minque Eddy Aristide
• Krouma El-Hadj Idrissa
• Meite Youssouf
• Ve Nathanael

Datathonics, Politecnico di Milano & Technical University of Munich – Italy & Germany
• Pola Alberto
• Riva Federico
• Romagnoli Fabio
• Signorelli Niccolo

IMSE, Université Gustave Eiffel & Institut Polytechnique de Paris – France
• Benkherfallah Mouna
• Mery Elie Tambourinoeud
• Ravelonarivo Mirado
• Svirin Stepan

Latent Space, Grenoble INP – ENSIMAG & Imperial College London – France & United Kingdom
• Bazouane Sara
• Bennasser Ahmed
• Ling Brandon Siao Xiang
• Lrhorfi Akram Mohammed

Model’s Makers, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) – Côte d’Ivoire
• Camara Farouck
• Konan N’Guessan Esaie
• N’Guessan Yakpa Ludivine
• Sylla Oumarou

MSE, Institut Polytechnique de Paris – France
• Antonopoulos Mathieu
• Margaritis Georgios
• Pinchon Enzo
• Sharma Shashwat

NONAME, Sorbonne University, New York University & Politecnico di Milano – France, USA, Italy
• Centorame Maria Cristina
• Li Yuxin
• OIulad Ali Ayoub Tasditquoifeur
• Shah Daivya

Oroscopo, Politecnico di Milano & University of Milan-Bicocca – Italy
• Fullin Giacomo
• Iaria Luca
• Olivieri Edoardo
• Portanova Paolo
• Verna Francesca

Sbyyaat, Télécom Paris – France
• Bajjou Mahmoud
• Chakour Yasser
• Essaadani Obeye
• Khales Mohamed Yassine

Team 41, Politecnico di Milano & University of Bologna – Italy
• Dogan Cemalettin
• Mariani Vittoria
• Oubia Mohammed
• Podorozhko Hanna
• Toledo Reinaldo

Undefined, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) – Côte d’Ivoire
• Alui Ange-Elvis
• Kouiahon Tosseu Larissa Dorine
• Koffi Jude
• Sangare Mahamadou

WalkAndTalk, Université Paris-Saclay – France
• Figueiredo João
• Idrissa Dicko
• Immoula Feddy
• Marino Tyler
• Poux Thibault

🙏 Acknowledgements to the referees and jury members:

• Allais Matheo – S&P Global
• Ben Rejeb-Mzah Imene – BNP
• Chow Evan – Princeton Alumni
• Connor Thomas – S&P Global
• Dangauthier Pierre – Point72
• Créti Anna – PSL Paris-Dauphine
• Detruchis Aurélien – KAYRROS
• Fuksa Nikola – SpaceKnow
• Lehalle Charles-Albert – CMAP, École polytechnique, IP Paris
• Li Mengda – CUHK, Shenzhen
• Liu Yushan – CMAP
• Mateos Eduardo – Afirma
• Moorhouse Joe – BNP
• Pachebat Jean – CMAP, École polytechnique, IP Paris
• Perrin Guillaume – Université Gustave Eiffel
• Sabo Bachir – World Bank
• Sacksick Marie – Probabl AI
• Tankov Peter – CREST, ENSAE, IP Paris
• Vermandel Gauthier – CMAP, École polytechnique, IP Paris
• Wei Xiao – BNP
• Wolinski Francis – Yotta Conseil
• Zeroual Jad – CMAP / Orange

The winning teams will be invited to take part in the award ceremony in Paris. In addition, several teams and jury members have been invited to contribute to the writing of a collective article, as their work offered original insights into the challenges of downscaling.

Thank you to all participants for your energy and enthusiasm! Your commitment made this event truly unforgettable.
Special thanks to DataCraft and Kayrros for their invaluable support in organizing the competition.

✨ See you next year! ✨