As part of the 22nd edition of Shaastra, the annual student-run technical festival by IIT Madras, students are developing a virtual re-creation of the campus at a futuristic Martian landscape. A ‘virtual Hyperloop’ has been used for ‘virtual travelling’ between various Shaastra venues and gives the users a futuristic experience. The setup on a Mars dome will be the platform for lectures, events, exhibition booths along with interactive games to add to the experience.
This edition will be held online between January 13 and 16. Many of the events are free to access for the public. A total of around 50 events will be organized, featuring a total of 30,000 participants this year, a steep rise compared to a total of 20,000 participants last year, says IIT Madras.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic putting humanity on a completely different trajectory, Shaastra 2022’s theme – ‘Code to Chaos’ – aims to shine a light on the new reality shaped by rapid digitisation,” says IIT Madras.
“I must give all credit to students for managing the change in scenario and moving to the virtual platform smoothly. Conducting Shaastra virtually would not have the same impact as it would have if the event was held on campus. But, the team is trying to achieve a good traction by imagining different ways in which they can reach out virtually to provide students from IIT Madras as well other institutions a good exposure on what is happening in the field of technology,” said Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.
Shaastra Summit includes a virtual conference every year on a new topic. This year the focus topic is gaming and gaming technology. The goal of the conference is to facilitate networking of enthusiasts, students, and professionals in the gaming industry to learn from each other, says IIT Madras. The event will feature lectures and panel discussions with speakers from over five countries.
This edition of Shaastra includes the Shaastra Grand Challenge, a competition revolving around the concept of circular economy paired with sustainability techniques, to rethink and discover ways to tackle real-life problems. An inquisitive line-up of workshops throwing light on the trending topics including Arduino, Internet of Things, data visualisation, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc.
This edition of Shaastra includes competitions in diverse disciplines ranging from aeronautics, biotechnology, engineering design, and business, to law, computation, electronics, and quizzes. The objective is to provide a platform for young minds to define and solve industrial-level problems, the official release said.
Highlighting the unique aspects of Shaastra 2022, Dr Ratna Kumar Annabattula, Co-curricular Advisor, IIT Madras, said, “Promoting the goal of ‘the Spirit of Engineering’, the students have come up with a diverse spectrum of Spotlight lectures that feature Nobel Laureates who are experts in the advanced fields of quantum computing, anthropology, biophysical chemistry and more to enlighten the future pillars of our nation. In association with the country’s largest student-run innovation lab, the CFI Open House displays student innovators’ projects and recent works to network and seek potential collaborators and mentors from industries that can help take the products to market. ”
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