In the land of science fiction.. IIT Bombay Techfest 2012
By Maitree Dasgupta 12 January 2012
As my car approached the IIT Bombay gate in Powai a long queue of thousands caught my attention.....young boys and girls some trying to cover their faces to avoid the glaring afternoon sun. Soon I realised that I had been warned to avoid this line and get a pass - the endless entry line is for the Techfest 2012 of IIT Bombay (6- 8 January), the largest technical fest among Indian Premier Institutes of Technology and perhaps in Asia.
The serious mood of the beautiful green campus was overtaken by the festival with music, competitions, exhibitions, lectures and of course games. While walking around the campus something small and swift passed my legs. Suddenly alerted, I realised that I am near the practise track of wireless remote controlled cars (cars participating in competition Nitrox) beside the racing track. Participating students made their own wireless remote controlled machine which can race against other opponents on an off-road dirt track with many obstacles...quite a spectacle with a large cheering crowd.
Further ahead, one could see robots battle, remote-controlled aircrafts fight, robots dancing, and bubble magic. Two huge semicircular domes were set up - one for around 25 foreign exhibitions from countries like Switzerland, Japan, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, USA, Denmark and Australia. The second dome "Techconnect" was completely dedicated to IIT Bombay departments and their innovations.
swissnex India supported the ETH Zurich student team from the 2011 'Game Design class' to participate at the IIT Bombay Tech-fest. For the ETH students, some initial hiccups around logistics had them worried for a moment but everything got fixed to run the exhibition on time. All of them were happy with the interest of the audience in their exhibits and queries regarding the study opportunities at ETH Zurich.
It is amazing that the Techfest – attracting 30’000 visitors each year - is completely managed by the students. It is amazing to see how beyond their curriculum they dedicate so much of their time and energy for the fest. Started 15 years back it drew the attention of many international universities and their presence has steadily increased over the years.
A day with experts on 'Current and future priority areas in India'!
By Mrinalika Pandit, July 20 2011
Since 2004, Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research and the Department of Science and Technology of India implementing the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme (ISJRP) successfully. In Switzerland, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (the leading house for India) was assigned the coordination role together with the University of Lausanne as its partner.
After running the programme effectively both programme authorities are willing to continue it in coming years and next four year phase will start in 2013. In order to define the next phase of the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Program and new priority areas a consultation process has been started. The workshop on 'Current and future priority areas in India' was held as part of the consultation process on the priority research areas in India.
swissnex India together with Centre for Study of Science Technology and Policy (CSTEP) organised the workshop. Dr. Silvia Hostettler opened the meeting by introducing swissnex India and welcoming the participants and the members of CSTEP. Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj, the Director of CSTEP introduced the organisation to the participants. Dr. Robin King and Dr. Eeswaran Subrahmanian (moderators) briefed the participants about the process of the workshop and what were its objectives.
The morning started off with an exercise to differentiate the problems, opportunities and the stakeholders involved in the current and future major challenges in the areas of research in India. After a lot of open ended and free floating discussions it was time to get more structured and come up with some clear subjects & guidelines for possible research areas!
The afternoon session began with a re-grouping of participants into clusters of inter-disciplines mainly to ensure to work on the priority research areas designated to them. There were four groups formed with two research areas given to each group. They were also given an hour to compile the feedback from their team members and present it at the meeting again.
Here below is a quick summarising of the afternoon working session.!---------
Afternoon Session: Determining the Priority issues collectively!
Participants were branched into different groups of inter-disciplinary area in order to work on the priority research areas:
Priority Research areas emerged out with ideas on collaborative research under the following sectors:
- Health Care
- Urban Development
- Climate change
- Sustainability and development (focus on policies)
- Clean technologies
- Global concerns
- Poverty alleviation
- ICT and its applications
Dr. Silvia Hostettler, thanked everyone for their valuable contributions. She said that the day had thrown light upon many interesting ideas which needed further introspection and that this was just the beginning. Dr. Robin King emphasised the importance of the ideas that have emerged and said that it is hoped that the future would see some of these ideas being developed as serious research collaborative efforts.
H.E. Ambassador Phillipe Welti's Visit to the Indian Institute of Science(IIsc), Bangalore on June 17, 2011
by Mrinalika Pandit, June 18 2011
The Swiss delegation consisted ofH.E. Mr. Phillipe Welti & Myrtha Welti, Dr.Silvia Hostettler (Director swissnex India),Maitree Dasgupta(swissnexIndia),Rolf Frei (Consul General Bangalore), Werner Nievergelt (Consul General Mumbai). IISc delegation included Prof. Balaram,(Director of IISc); Prof.Rangarajan, Chairman, International Relations Cell Prof. Vijayalakshmi, Chairperson, Department of Neuroscience, Prof.Andre Pittet, Chief Project Advisor in Centre for Electronics Design and Technology, Prof.Rudra Pratap, Chairperson, Department of Nano Science and Engineering, Prof. Rahul Pandit, and five Heads of Departments.
The discussion ranged over:
- Joint collaboration on management techniques and power engineering between Switzerland and India
- Student exchanges between the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and IISc
- Joint workshop (towards end of 2011,beginning of 2012) on computational neuroscience with experts from Swiss and Indian research institutes and universities
- The building of knowledge platforms, intense student exchanges emerging from the initial joint workshops
- Creation of Semester exchange facilities for student across the two countries.
The Swiss Delegation later visited the Department of Neuroscience.Dr.Vijaylakshmi and her colleagues received the delegation. Mrs. Welti applauded the contributions of the IISc team to research in the cure for Alzheimer's and offered the University of Zurich as a site for collaborative work in the future.
Finally the Swiss Delegation visited the Department of Nano Science and Engineering, IISc.
Prof. Rudra Pratap underscored that the recently completed Nano--‐Fabrication Facility followed the design of the clean room facility at EPFL. Much is owed to the Faculty and technicians who contributed to this joint work.
Future scenarios for collaboration can include- 'Incubation and Commercialization' of
Indian and Swiss companies with EPFL and ETHZ being the research anchors. Swiss and Indian specific strengths can contribute to market friendly product outcomes
Swissnex India looks forward to implementing the rich ideas that have emerged in the discussions between the Swiss Delegation and the scientists at IISc. These will include joint workshops, lectures, research projects, and student exchanges. All in all the meetings were fruitful and there is much to be hoped for in the future...partnerships which promise tangible outcomes.
