DENSO Factory Hacks Season 4 Empowers Students to Shape the Factory of the Future with AI

As artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and data continue to transform global manufacturing, DENSO Factory Hacks 2026 provides students, engineers, and the technology community with an opportunity to tackle real-world challenges faced by modern factories.

On July 30, DENSO Vietnam—a member of Japan's DENSO Group and one of the world's leading automotive component manufacturers—in collaboration with FPT, officially launched DENSO Factory Hacks 2026. The competition invites students, engineers, and technology enthusiasts to develop AI- and data-driven solutions that address practical manufacturing challenges, with a total prize pool of VND 250 million.

The award ceremony for the third season of DENSO Factory Hacks in 2025.

Entering its fourth season, DENSO Factory Hacks continues to advance its vision of "Preserving Core Values – Empowering with AI – Building the Factory of the Future." Building on a strong foundation established over previous seasons, this year's competition expands its scope to three key themes:

• Predictive & Knowledge AI – applying AI to enhance forecasting and operational support;
• Humanoid & Robotics – developing AI-powered robotics to advance factory automation; and
• Data Utilization – unlocking the value of manufacturing data.

Through the competition, DENSO and FPT aim to identify highly applicable solutions that improve operational efficiency while supporting DENSO's smart factory strategy, which is built around five core flows: Data, People, Materials, Energy, and Resources.

Ms. Pham Minh Hao, Deputy General Director of DENSO Vietnam, said: "The manufacturing industry is entering a historic period of transformation, where AI, data, and robotics are reshaping how factories operate and create value. However, technology only becomes meaningful when driven by people who embrace innovation and are willing to take on challenges. Through DENSO Factory Hacks 2026, we hope to create a platform where students, engineers, and the technology community can collaborate with industry to develop innovative manufacturing solutions, help shape the factories of the future, and nurture Vietnam's next generation of high-quality technology talent in the AI era."

Previous seasons have demonstrated the competition's growing impact:

• 2023: Team EDABK-1 from Hanoi University of Science and Technology won with a low-cost camera solution that automatically captures production line data.
• 2024: Team ETTN, also from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, impressed the judging panel with an AI- and IoT-powered solution for real-time monitoring, connectivity, and data analytics.
• 2025: Team SPARK from the University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi claimed the championship with DiffusionAD, an AI solution capable of detecting manufacturing defects without requiring labeled data.

Three seasons. Three champion teams. Three milestones of innovation.

More importantly, these achievements reflect DENSO's long-term commitment to supporting the technology community and empowering young engineers to transform today's ideas into tomorrow's manufacturing solutions.

Beyond serving as a technology competition, several projects have continued to receive mentorship from DENSO and FPT experts after the event. One participating team even secured USD 300,000 in investment to further develop and deploy its solution within an actual manufacturing environment.

Building on these successes, DENSO Factory Hacks 2026 aims to further strengthen collaboration among industry, academia, and the technology community to discover, incubate, and develop smart manufacturing solutions, contributing to the development of high-quality technology talent and the sustainable growth of Vietnam's manufacturing sector.

The champion team of DENSO Factory Hacks 2025 receives the VND 100 million grand prize.

Competition Timeline

Registration for DENSO Factory Hacks 2026 officially opens on July 30, 2026, with the following schedule:

• July 30 – August 31: Registration period
• August 17: Online training session
• September 11: Bootcamp and factory tour at DENSO Vietnam
• October 12: Idea submission deadline
• October 13 – October 19: Evaluation and selection of the Top 10 teams
• November 16: Live pitching round to select the Top 5 finalists
• December 2: Grand Final

In addition to participating in the bootcamp and factory immersion program at DENSO Vietnam, competing teams will receive direct mentorship from experts at DENSO and FPT to refine their solutions before the final round. Promising projects will have opportunities to continue their development after the competition, with the goal of being implemented in real-world manufacturing environments.

Registration for DENSO Factory Hacks 2026 officially opened on July 30, 2026. Students, engineers, and members of the technology community can visit https://densohackathon.vn to learn more about the competition rules, receive updates, and submit their applications.