Techfest Blog
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Ozone @ Techfest!!
123 days
The world stands on the brink, and Makarov is intent on bringing civilization to its knees. In this darkest hour you’re running across an unfamiliar planet while a horde of disgusting aliens chase you. You blast them with a laser and escape to safety. The adrenaline rush of driving at breakneck speeds, the pressure of
fierce competition, the fear of losing control, the intense concentration and athleticism needed to harness the power of speeding……..this is the awaited GAMING ZONE of TECHFEST where the best in the country tackle to settle who is best in the gamble! This year Techfest promises you best technology, graphics and environment for gaming. The tournaments will be held for the following games:
*Counter Strike
*NFS Most Wanted
*FIFA 11
*Age of Empires II
*COD: Mordern Warfare
This is a call for all the gaming freaks out there, register yourself as soon as possible at www.techfest.org/home/event/gaming_zone and get ready to experience the best technology, graphics and environment of gaming. To top it all, exciting prizes are to be won. Let the race begin!
The excitement would be at its peak at Scenario Paintball which is a whole new avatar of the conventional game, making the game strategic and objective driven rather than just blind shooting. To add to the fun we also have water zorbing!
If you think that wasn’t enough to keep you entertained during the carnival, here’s the big red cherry on the top of sundae of awesomeness. The LAZER TAG is back on its way to Techfest and this time the experience is gonna be more splendid. A high tech combination of tag and hide and seek the game is played in a large, multi-level arena with black lighting, fog, stunning graphics, special effects and heart pounding music. Tag or be tagged in this intense, real life
lazer combat! The suspense will be unbearable. As Barney says it- Suit up and lets get scoring!
So, see you at Ozone, Techfest 2012!!
Writing credits – Arjita
On-the-spot Competitions @ Techfest
024 days
While the techno-freaks enter the battle with robots, you get a chance to do some awesome stuff catering to your hobby and yet compete with the best in the country. This is a platform to outwit your opponents and hoist the flag of your dominance, have a lot of fun and get a chance to win lot of exciting prizes at the same time. To render you a truly unforgettable experience at Techfest, OZONE brings to you the ‘on the spot competitions’ segment. Ranging from creating machines in minutes to photography, we have it all.
Jugaad from Kabad, that is what JUNKYARD WARS is all about. Limited time, limited resources, a problem to solve and this is where your imagination and creativity are at stake. Pull up your socks of imagination and get ready to dirty your hands in the battle of trash!
The AMAZING RACE – the treasure hunt where you have to pilage, plunder and get going for your way to victory by contemplating the mind boggling clues spread over a hundred acres.
If you think that you are bold and charismatic enough to take on the others as leaders in politics, we invite you to this epic political showdown, called POLITIK.
Don’t be disappointed if cards and gambling is the field where your interests lie, because competitions like ALL IN, a poker championship and BLUFFMASTER which is a gambling arena, are in place to entertain you.
For those who believe that sometimes it is cool to embrace the geek inside you, we have the Techfest Geekiest, National Open Quiz and SU-DO-KU. The TECHFEST NATIONAL OPEN QUIZ is the battle of wits with each team of knowledge-thirsty nerds trying to win the title. TECHFEST GEEKIEST is the place for you to be if you think of the chemicals involved in your dessert or dream about Rubik’s cube and differential equations. Gear up and get going to prove your nerdiness!!
Then there is the photography competition called CLICK which is a platform for you to showcase your talent.
Thus the battlefield is set and the weapons are in place so get ready to PROVE YOURSELF..this year at Ozone @Techfest 2012 !!!
Writing Credits – Arjita
Lecture Series @ Techfest
028 days
The past few decades have witnessed rapid advancement in the field of scientific research and development. Starting from Edison’s light bulb to LEDs, James Watts steam engines to space ships, technology has come a long way. All this became possible, because a few ordinary people had the courage to think different.
Techfest, dedicated to spread excellence and knowledge, has been inviting such extraordinary people, to enlighten us and inspire us to explore a whole new dimension of thinking.
In previous versions of Techfest there have been lectures from luminaries like Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Former President of India), Mr. Jimmy Wales (Founder, Wikipedia), Dr. John Nash Jr. (Nobel Laureate), Dr. Vic Hayes (Father of Wi-fi), Harold Kroto (Discoverer of Buckminsterfullerene, Noble prize 1996), Mr. Michael Jones (founder, Google earth), William Baker (Structural Engineer, Burj Khalifa), Mr. Jaap Haarsten (Inventor of Bluetooth), and many more.
Techfest 2012, would witness the footfall of more such eminent personalities, to spread the illumination of knowledge, among the hearts and minds of the young generation. Let me tell you about the bigwigs of today’s science and technology who will be here to enlighten us with their words of wisdom:
To begin with,
Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a Nobel Laureate, would talk about How antibiotics target the ribosome, the cell’s protein making factory.
Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg, the one man you feel like thanking each time you are humming on a song on your MP3 player.
Prof. David J. Griffiths, a U.S. physicist and educator, who is famous worldwide, for his unique “funny” way of analysing physics and quantum mechanics.
There is a lot more to it !!
Have you ever been fancied by the tales and myths about immortals ? Well, if the answer is YES, then Techfest is providing you an opportunity to meet Dr. Aubrey de Grey, developer of tissue repair strategy (SENS), allowing indefinite extension of human life!
Talking about the supernaturals, the movie “Inception” was equally fascinating with a lot of incomprehensible dreaming. Well, here is your chance to understand the concept of Inception.
Dr. Deirdre Barrett, best known for her research on dreams, hypnosis and evolutionary psychology, would give a talk on Lucid Dreaming.
There are many more to come @ Techfest 2012!
Come, face these living legends, and be inspired !!
For more details, see http://techfest.org/lectures
Exhibitions @ Techfest 2012
134 days
Techfest, in its quest to showcase incredible technologies depicting a blend of time, brings to you in its 15th chapter, innovations that will leave everyone speechless. Exhibits from all around the world, works of leading industries, research groups and student projects, all brought under one roof, to provide a unique experience of learning and a peek into the awe-inspiring future of technology, that would be impossible to obtain otherwise.
The international exhibits portray an amalgamation of art, science, culture and nature in a way that has never been experienced before. The first one is “Last Supper Interactive”, an amazing device that enables the user to penetrate illusion of space, in and outside the painting and explore the aesthetic composition from any perspective. Further mesmerising, would be to see a bunch of robot playing soccer autonomously, an exhibit by the University of Plymouth. Exhibitions this year, would astonish you more, with robots that can imitate your actions, flying boards, super water repellent surfaces, and several other inconceivable, terrific even bizarre innovations. For the first time in India, Aldebaran will exhibit at Techfest 2012 its outstanding humanoid robot, Nao capable of expressing ‘emotions’ be it sadness or happiness, excitement or pride. These little humanoids make everyone tap their feet at the sight of their synchronised dance routine.
Most of the scientific research, being fundamental in nature, is miles away from industrial application. With the primary motive to bridge this gap, Techfest brings TechConnect. It acts as a platform for researchers at IIT Bombay to showcase their R&D activities. Working models, catchy simulations, laboratory visits are all organised to give a first hand experience to the research activities.
Why satiate at this! Exhibitions at Techfest this time, has in store for you, an ideal PET !
Look forward to a Robot Dog, that can scratch the ground, do head stands, dance, identify human faces, taekwondo and a lot more.
Did you just begin to think that Exhibitions with all its complex fundae was meant only for the geeky kind? Street Exhibits will just prove you wrong ! Extreme maneuvers and tricks at the press of a button shall allow you to defy gravity on Diwheel. With Bike Exhibitions, the self-balancing Micycle and many more exhibits on streets, Exhibitions promises to be as adventurous as it is enlightening.
Come, be dazzled by Exhibitions at Techfest 2012, all set to defy the scale of exhibitions held in Asia.
WAVES of Electricity
075 days
Being products of the science generation, we blame you not if you’ve been bulldozed quite enough about how Mother Nature’s pride has been staked by us technocrats. Pictures of a world blanketed in darkness, only brought to light by the cannonade that characterize the brewing wars between nations fighting for nature’s leftovers is not something we are proud of either. With the Mayan Calendar about to end next year, I ask thee where do we stand? Are we approaching apocalypse? You’ll say this is all ridiculous, “Doomsday! Are you out of your mind?” “Look at this psycho, damn! God should have given him wits”. Well, let me make it clear that neither am I a frantic despondent nor have I seen a lot of sci-fi movies! The fears of pollution, global warming, ozone depletion, energy crises, market failure, recession, inflation are all very real and for everyone to see. The “day after tomorrow” is ours to save.
Techfest, this time, besides celebrating the many upsides of technology is also taking a shot at some aspects of the “collateral damage” it’s been causing over the years. We envision a future abuzz with electricity, if not any of the countless other avenues of renewable energy. The World Advanced Vehicle Expedition (WAVE), takes the idea to a newer level. The WAVE is a road campaign of electric cars promoting the pitch for electricity as an alternative to fossil fuels the world over. It was only a matter of time that the Indian shores were touched too and what better stage to do it than Techfest, IIT Bombay.
Electricity as opposed to fossil fuels leaves the air unsullied and pristine. Besides, it’s four-times more efficient. And the “renewable” tag is what every one’s been talking about. After years of reading, debating and doing numerous ”fake projects”( :P ) on the issue, the time is ripe to take matters in our own hands. The road campaign encompasses 5 major Indian cities after starting from and finally culminating at Mumbai. Along the way, landmarks will be broken and precedents set. The only question is, are you willing to make it a rage?
Though our Mother Nature’s chastity has been breached countlessly over the years, it does not take a genius to see that everything can be undone if only we are willing to look beyond the conventional chasms we’ve been restricting ourselves to. The electrons may have the answer and giving them a chance is all it takes to know for sure. So, this December, a roadtrip awaits you but the smokes are gonna be off for a change!
Double-you Double-you Double-you (dot) TECHFEST (dot) Oh Are Gee(k) !
084 days
As the dawn of the New Year approaches, the sprawling campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay will never be the same again. And it’s not because of some prophesied Armageddon that will bring the world as we know it to an end but a phenomenon that will indeed bring it to a standstill. A celebration of sci-tech like no other, the continent’s largest science and technology festival is sure to rattle your senses like they never have been before.
What began in 1998 as a fledgling effort to glamorize tech and bring it to the masses has mushroomed into an array of captivating events showcasing cutting-edge tech on a scale that has left colleges elsewhere gaping. We have on display exhibits from research labs and tech-savvy institutes from across the globe. The fiercely-contested competitions and on-the-spot events have sparked a rivalry amongst the competing teams that brings them back here every year. If not that, then lectures from eminent names in the technology world and workshops on such a wide wavelength of topics is a motivation strong enough.
Techfest is on a pioneering spree this time, with a string of bold initiatives just to keep you guessing. The Techfest National Open Quiz, a quizzing event on an unprecedented scale has already set the wheels in motion. Another enterprising move is the proposed World Advanced Vehicle Expedition (WAVE), an effort to encourage renewable energy usage in a country that needs it a lot if not the most. All these are nothing but born out of a legacy that few widely perceived “milquetoast academics” (Read: IITians) bequeathed 15 years ago.
In the midst of all this, when the dust settles, Techfest itself has defied the very idea it was intended to be. It has become much more than just that. It’s not just about technology anymore. Initiatives like the Ummeed-e-Milaap have thrown a new light on what technology fests should strive to achieve which is not just pulling crowds towards the fest but amongst themselves. The message of peace was never geekier!
We may still be two months away from the actual extravaganza but the heat can still be sensed against the seemingly non-happening backdrop. So don’t wait up, book your tickets and register quickly before the deadlines blow right in your face. Remember, this January is gonna be something else. Technology just got hotter!