| Monday, Sep 29, 2008
Shaastra Nights set to cast a spell
Breathtaking demonstrations, robotic shows, congregation of best minds, design challenges and more at this year’s IIT-M technical festival.
Students of Engineering are all set for ‘Shaastra 2008’,
the 10th edition of IIT-Madras’s technical festival, which
is to be held this October.
According to student-organisers, the event has the distinction
of being the only entirely student-organised festival that is
ISO 9001:2000 certified. Being organised in the golden jubilee
year of the institute, organisers are eager to make the event
t ruly unique and memorable. A host of interesting events have
been lined up.
“Shaastra congregates some of the most ingenious of minds
in the world which include Nobel laureates, inventors and heads
of various labs around the world for a plethora of conferences
and lectures, making it a must-attend event for all those fascinated
by science and technology,” says Shounak Deb, one of the
students involved in organising the event.
A debate ‘Role of Technology and the contribution of the
IITs to our nation’ is bound to offer some interesting
insights, say students. Competitions with a total prize money
of over Rs. 10 lakh is sure to attract some of the best minds
all over the country to compete with each other.
One of the new additions to Shaastra is ‘Shaastra Nights’,
a “confluence of science and technology,” as students
put it. A display of interesting developments in technology
is to be put up after the competitions for the day on October
2 , 3 and 4 are over.
The first show, to be put on the second of October, will showcase
a scintillating display of pyrotechnics and laser technology
by popular Mumbai-based company SFX. With the theme being an
integration of Shaastra 2008, golden jubilee and IITM, it will
serve as an unofficial opening ceremony, according to the organisers.
On October 3, a student from the U.S. shall be presenting a
touch screen device that he has developed. This device, apart
from giving better performance than current commercially-available
models, has an installation cost of about $60.
The third night is for all those who get all excited at the
mere mention of robots. A professor from the National University
of Singapore (NUS) will bring some of his robots and humanoids,
which have the ability to play a game of football.
With the development of advanced sensing techniques and artificial
intelligence, the robots can triangulate the position of other
robots, communicate with them, coordinate and make informed
decisions. Several other robots having such unique applications
will also be showcased at Shaastra 2008.
The Hindu Education Plus is the media partner for Shaastra 2008.
More details at http://www.shaastra.org/2008/Main.
A display of interesting developments in technology is to be
put up after the competitions for the day on October 2, 3 and
4 are over.
Courtesy: The Hindu - Education Plus
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