Hello all,

There are really REALLY big prizes out there up for grabs. But they are all locked in a castle. All you have to do is go there get them. You can train a bunch of battering rams, throw some grenades or even better just drive right through the walls at full throttle in your fully upgraded Porsche or just save a penalty and take it all!  We are talking about the much awaited Techfest Gaming Zone which promises to be biGGer and beTTer.

So all you gaming enthusiasts out there, we are expecting a much bigger participation in the Gaming Zone @ Techfest 2009.

This year, the tourmanents will be held for the following games:

• Counter Strike 1.6
• Age Of Empires II – The Conquerors Expansion
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted
• FIFA 2008

Registrations for all the games have started. See http://techfest.org/gaming . Registrations close on 20th January 2009. Participants can also register on the spot, on 24th January 2009.

More games also might be included, so keep visiting the website often.

Game On…

Lecture series:- Inspiring and enlightening all

Hello all

The role of science and technology in our lives is unparalled. From steam engines to space ships, we have surely come a long way. And the people who made it all happen are not extaordinary people. They just had the ability to think extraordinarily using ordinary ideas.

And every year in Techfest we have been inviting such genius people to enlighten us and inspire us to think
differently. And this year is no different.

In previous versions of Techfest there were lectures from geniuses like Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Former President of India), Dr. Rodney Brooks, Director, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratories (CSAIL), MIT, Mr. Sam Pitroda, Chairman and CEO of World-Tel Limited, Dr. Arun Netravali, Managing Partner of OmniCapital, previously, President of Bell Labs (1999 – 2001), Robert E. Kahn, Father of Internet and many more.

And this year Techfest is going to be graced by pioneers who have worked in various fields ranging from human ancestry to the most advanced robots in the world or from astronomy to development of computer simulation of human brain.

Mr. SPENCER WELLS

Dr. ERIC CHIVIAN

Dr. Eric Chivian, a Nobel Prize Winner, is Founder and Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment,and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, at Harvard Medical School. He was senior editor and author of MITPress’ Critical Condition: Human Health and the Environment. He was also recently featured in the 2008 issue of Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people in the world under the Scientists and Thinkers section.

Prof. DARIO FLOREANO

Mr. HENRY MARKARM

Dr. MARTIN HENDRY

Mr. HAMID KELLAY
Hamid Kellay is a Professor of Physics at University of Bordeaux 1. He completed his B.A. at Harvard University 1988 and his PhD. at Ecole Normale Supérieure et Université Paris Sud, 2003. This talk will draw a few consequences of the findings for the properties of the random part of hurricane trajectories.

and many many more to come…

For more details, see http://techfest.org/lectures

So this is your chance to get face to face with living legends and to get inspired to be what you aspire to be.

Hello All,

I’ve decided to end the year 2008 with this one. Techfest exhibitions have always been special in giving country the feel of true Science and Technology, be it the Mars Rover exhibition in Techfest 2006 or Royal society flying down exclusively for Techfest to show case their summer science exhibition in Techfest 2007 and the exhibits from Wired Nextfest in Techfest 2008. This has left Techfest 2009 with nothing more to prove coz Techfest exhibitions has seen it all and done it all. We have decided to make it bigger and leave the country stunned with the sheer size of it and here we are with the biggest Science and Technology Exhibition of its kind in Asia, spanning more than 50,000 square feet (takes quite a long time to travel the distance), more than 50 exhibits with exhibitors flying down from more than 10 countries for this unique exhibition to set a landmark amongst Science and Technology exhibitions in this part of the globe. Techfest exhibitions promise to keep everyone interested with exhibits on each topic you would dream to have a look at.

Some of the highlights at Techfest exhibitions include: Aircraft exhibition, by Airbus to help you learn how aircraft work with lots of model aircraft; Nissan Technology and Design Square from Japan, flying down exclusively to showcase the amazing Technology and Design of Nissan; Outstanding exhibits from Royal society summer science exhibition 2008, UK; Topnotch exhibits from Wired Nextfest, USA; Exhibits from DRDO; Exhibition to showcase the research and development of IIT Bombay ( I am running out of space to write about all the exhibits, so let me end it here ) Visit: www.techfest.org/exhibitions for more details.

Come be dazzled at this exhibition, all set to Defy the scale of exhibitions held in Asia.

Hello All, It has been long since we’ve been blogging, the culprit being the end semester examinations, and we are back here with the latest entry on events, you can expect at Techfest.

As has been the case with the competitions, Techfest has always provided with the latest development in science and technology through Lecture Series, Technology nights aka Technoholix and Exhibitions, and growing through, becoming bigger and better, this year would be a spec’tech’al to watch

I proudly state that we were the ones to start Lecture Series,Technoholix and Exhibitions in a college festival, with several fests in the country still trying desperately to “get inspired” to adapt such events at the fests.

Techfest events minus competition, comprising of Ozone, the on the spot zone; Technoholix; Lecture Series and Exhibitions is going to be special and are promising enough to provide the participants with amazing memories that you would cherish for life ….

Lets give you a sneak into what we have been up to with these..

Ozone – the on the spot as we would like to call puts in the fun events involved in Techfest. With quizzes and puzzles, a Coding arena, informal workshops and exclusive gaming zone running through day and night, it’s a solace for one and all for those who not only want to have fun but also win loads of goodies at the same time. Events such as SciTech- national inter collegiate Quiz competition, Junkyard wars and Survivor have drawn thousands to them in an opportunity to win prizes a lakh rupees. Nothing can be better than this.

While Ozone is a venue for fun, Lectures and Exhibits provide you with that much needed Gyan about things you would have never seen or thought of.

Witness this year Lectures by nobel laureates , eminent personalities and genius scientists who will enlighten you on topics as varied as predicting storms on our planet to the world first invisibility device.

Exhibitions all set to be the biggest of its kind to ever happen in the country and to challenge the biggest science and Technology exhibitions of the globe, with over 20000 sq feet of exhibitions space comprising of exhibits from the Royal Science Society , The wired next fest and over 10 laboratories of advanced military research through the country.

Technoholix as always is set to leave you spell bound with the sheer grandness associated with it. With an awe inspiring blend of technology, science and entertainment, Technoholix promises to bring you events that will leave you in a trance.

Techfest 2009 has tried to live up to its legacy of bringing new competitions, be it those based on solar robotics or those on the use of science and (or should I say ‘as’) art. However, this time we bring you a new competition, whose concept, at face, would seem primitive but the format is like that of something never seen before in Techfest. Techfest 2009 is proud to present ROBOWARS – The Inter College Combat-Robotics Competition.

Combat robotics.. a term which instantly brings to mind images of huge robots going at each other, and trying to rip each other’s hearts off, a sight definitely not for the weak. Pursued as an extensive (and expensive) hobby outside the country we found that combat robotics is something that should be encouraged, and thus came the notion of a battleground for the meanest machines that you might have ever seen.

So what’s so unique about the competition you say.. well the equation is simple, one team from each college => many such colleges => one Robowars Trophy. Since the team that comes from a college is the official representative of that college, the amount of money that the team can afford to spend on making a robot also increases and thus we can achieve a true combat-robotics competition. Till date, of the many many colleges in India, the following have been selected to participate in the event:

1. Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (IITB), Mumbai
2. Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat
3. Krupajal Engineering College (KEC), Bhubaneshwar
4. Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda, Vadodara
5. Nirma University of Science and Technology, Ahmedabad
6. SRM University, Chennai
7. National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur
8. Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET DAVV), Indore
9. Laxmi Devi Institute of Engineering and Technology (LIET), Alwar
10. Shri S’ad Vidya Mandal Institute of Technology (SVMIT), Bharuch
11. U V Patel College of Engineering, Ganpat University, Mehsana
12. K J Somaiya Institute of Engineering, Mumbai
13. Apex Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur
14. Walchand Institute Of Technology, Solapur
15. Maharashtra Academy Of Engineering (MAE), Pune
16. Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai
17. Parul Institute of Engineering & Technology (PIET), Vadodara
18. KCG College of Technology, Chennai
19. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore
20. College Of Engineering, Pune (COEP)
21. Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science (KITS), Warangal
22. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati
23. Rishiraj Institute of Technology, Indore
24. G H Patel College of Engineering and Technology (GCET), Vallabh Vidyanagar
25. Shri Ramdeobaba Kamla Nehru Engineering College, Nagpur
26. Sastra University, Thanjavur
27. Vindhya Institute of Technology and Science, Jabalpur
28. University Institute of Technology, RGPV, Bhopal

- and many more are expected to join in.

Come January 2009 and we hope to see  flying blades, violent flame throwers, the thrashing sound of metal and a junk pile of annihilated machines, come January 2009 we hope to see ROBOWARS!!!

For more information on Robowars, visit  http://techfest.org/competitions/robowars/

Just writing it a day after being with Mr. Rory Bynre, Ex-Chief Designer of Ferrari F1, I don’t need my memories to be stored as pensieve .

This was the first time I met a man of such stature and being a hardcore Ferrari fan, made the moment truly special to me (literally gave me goose-bumps). Till now I just used to watch him on television (though occasionally, as he is reluctant to media) admiring him, watching him in person is really unexplainable.

26th Night:

I along with one of my Managers Prateek Krishna (PK) went to receive THE MAN, accompanied by his wife and son, at International airport. I imagined him to accompanied by entourage and thus someone who might be visible from a mile away, but to my amazement I spotted him at a secluded corner waiting for pickup silently (He was recognised by my co-manager ).

After rounds of introduction and greetings, we escorted him to hotel. At the very first site, he got amazed by the population of both cars as well as people (though this is not new for any foreigner coming first time to India). He was truly amazed by Desi Taxis (our own yellow and black cars) and became a fan of them.
During our travel to his hotel we discussed current affairs of India and how it is progressing not only in terms of Formula 1 but technologically (from Chandrayaan to TATA Nano).

After discussing the schedule of next day at the hotel and exchanging materials required for the next day we bid goodbye.

27th Morning:

Time: 7:00 AM
Venue: Hotel Residence

I went to collect him from his room well before schedule (i.e. 30 minutes), cursing that I will have to pass my time at wee hours of morning, but guess what he was the one who was waiting for me. We discussed about current season, prospects of championship going to Ferrari and current scenario of India. Then we proceeded to a joyful ride spread over the day.

Lecture:

Time: 11:00 AM
Venue: PCSA

Lecture started with truly awesome with splendid Ferrari official video showing Ferrari at it Pinnacle (2002, Ferrari winning 15 out of 17 races). The crowd roared at the end. Soon after man started speaking about his life. Throughout he added some funny snippets. After short while his emphasis shifted to his life as a formula one designer, some technical stuff, some fascinating moments. Lecture commenced yet again with a Ferrari official video of 2004 season(last season in which he was chief designer, in which Ferrari won 15 out of 18 races). The crowd was truly mesmerized by his speech (atleast I was) and cheered lecturer. People soon thronged for his priceless autograph and answers to some of their questions.

Technical Closed Room Session with FSAE Teams:

Time: 2:30 PM
Venue: IRCC Auditorium

Session started with Mr Rory giving rare information about their procedure of designing, material selection, brain-storming, testing methods and also a blast picture of F2002 & F2004 showing each and every component, which he explained in full detail.

Soon after FSAE teams followed up with their presentations and questions/problems that they face while designing their cars for the competition. Each design was analysed and were given inputs to improve the existing model. Each team were happy with the opportunity provided to them by Techfest.

Inferences:

Qualities:

• I must admit, he is a very down to earth person who will never let anybody be bothered due to him.
• He is punctual and very patient guy.
• He is a very jovial person, always taking things in positive sense

Some rare facts:

• He plays golf for 3 hours a day (i.e 9 holes) everyday barring some exceptions.
• He also skis on weekends.
• In addition to that he was a first class player of cricket during his South-African stay.
• He is very enthusiast about Scuba-Diving (One of his reasons for switching to Thailand).
• He owns a 6000 sq meter plot at Phuket, Thailand (Phew!!). Plans to have an exhibition of F-2004 (one of his last creations).
• He switches between Italy and Thailand for 3 weeks each.

THANK YOU Mr. Byrne for making this trip memorable to all the team members of Techfest.

Hello all, this is the last of the blog entries on Techfest Nexus – Solar Robotics, the one which has given us so much content week after week to keep you updated. Here it goes:

While writing this entry, I recall the days when we were quizzing over the topic to choose for Nexus-2008 and we were pretty sure that we wanted to choose something relatively new (doing things the Techfest way) in the field of Robotics, err: in the field of Technology (I’m not kidding, there were hours of discussions to choose between Robotics and Technology). There have been numerous options each one had its own positives and negatives, but one thing is for sure, we have no regrets choosing Solar Robotics.

We were unsure about the topic, something not many have tried in India, and there were concerns over the availability, participation, toughness, i.e. concerns on everything. The team has decided (after hours of discussions, days of research and weeks of patience) to proceed with the same and I think we were quite successful in addressing most of the concerns, and today it should not be difficult to “the fests” to conduct a competition on solar robotics and we are happy to see such competitions being held in a few colleges following Techfest’s lead.

I think we were successful in promoting and publicizing solar robotics in the country, one of our major motives behind Nexus-2008 and to be honest, we were not completely successful in helping participants learn every bit of what we intended them to, but, yes we were able to show the way and try something unconventional (well, that’s called defy convention)

I need to give a special mention to the TOP (Techfest Outreach Programme), it was very heartening to see colleges participating in this initiative, to conduct a competition on their own, without help from Techfest and living up to the expectations. I thank the colleges for their efforts.

Finally, with around 1500 registrations, 4500 registrants, thousands of participants in workshops and the Nexus competition, and with the start of Solar Robotics in the country, I would like to say: Mission Accomplished.

Adieus to Nexus 2008 and happy journey to Solar Robotics in the country.

Nexus Patiala

Date: 18th October

Venue: Thapar University

Somewhere far off  in a  small north-western city of India called Mohali, the history of a game which India so deeply follows,  was being re-written. Sachin Tendulkar had just become the greatest batsman the world has ever seen,  while Dada like his usual fighting self came to the party when the chips were down.

On the same day however, in an even smaller city called Patiala, a new chapter in the history was being written with the introduction of a new competition in  the country: Nexus Patiala had arrived!!!

After 3 very successful Nexus competitions, and 2 equally good TOP competitions, Nexus Patiala  was to be the last in the chain of events: to be held in Thapar University (TU) along with their technical festival “Aranya”. Patiala being the last Nexus centre, we were determined to finish things with a bang, having learnt from our previous Nexus experiences.

Though Thapar University’s festival did make the pre-Nexus work easier , the final days were as usual hectic. Moreover, the “Jal” night on the eve of our event took away all the help from their team. Working till 4 am in the morning , drove  some of us to sleep at the venue of the event itself !!

However, when the D-day arrived, we were ready. Teams came in, and the competition began on time. Patiala- Nexus had a great start (at least as it seemed) with the first team of the competition cracking a timing of 2.97 seconds; that too with a solar engine. But unfortunately,  in their attempt to sneak in a few batteries in their bot, the team got disqualifed. Apart from this, teams from Patiala put up a great show, with the top 2 timings being under 2 seconds, and the 3rd being 2.03 seconds, and that too with the use of a solar engine (the best that Nexus has ever seen).

Here are the stats:
No of teams expected: 80-90
No of teams participating: 76
No of teams qualifying certificate criteria: 65 (a whopping 85% success rate)

Top three teams and their scores:

1st Position:

Abhishek and team (1.78 Seconds)

2nd Position:

Jagpreet and team (1.81 Seconds)

3rd position:

Anuj and team (2.03 seconds)

From the huge guest room that we were lodged in  to ‘The Jaggi’s’ (their famous in-campus canteen); from all the “beautiful” Punjabi crowd to the peaceful night’s sleep at home in Chandigarh (after the event), it was an enjoyable Nexus. The fun moments with the team while preparing for the event remain  unforgettable.

Though Nexus Patiala was a success, the motive of providing a local platform for the participants of Northern India was only nearly fulfilled as the J&K participants weren’t able to make it to the event due to the curfews enforced there.

Hope to see them all at Techfest 2009.

Ciao for now…

Rory Byrne

Pre-festival Lecture

Date: 27th October

Venue: IIT Bombay

Many of us would be waiting for the moment when Formula one will have a pit-stop at India. Even we are. Hopefully 2011 will be the answer. In line with the surge of interest in Formula one among the Indians, thanks to Narayan Karthikeyan (for his maiden year with Midland Jordan) and Vijay Mallya (for the first ever Indian Formula One Team, Force India F1), Techfest brings to you Rory Byrne, Chief Designer of Ferrari F1 team for the past 11 years. One of the greatest designers the sport has ever seen.

Profile:

Born in Pretoria, Byrne graduated with a BSc in engineering from the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. Initially he specialized in designing gliders but travelled to Britain in 1973 to help a friend who was racing in Formula Ford 1600. He then throttled Toleman Motosports running Ayrton Senna in his debut season in F1. In 1986 the team was bought by the Benetton Group and was accordingly renamed Benetton Formula. After a brief spell with the abortive Reynard F1 project in 1991 Byrne returned to Benetton. Byrne saw his creation win Michael Schumacher back to back World Titles in 1994 and 1995 and also saw Benetton claim the Constructor’s Title in 1995. But Schumacher was leaving to join Ferrari and Byrne was soon to follow.

Rory Byrne brought Ferrari to a status what is now by his world class superior F 2000s series. He powered Ferrari to Constructor’s Title from 1999 to 2004. He was one of the forces behind Michael’s success as he supported him not only in his rookie year at Benetton but also at Ferrari powering him to his 7 driver’s titles.

Sadly he will be slowly handing over the reigns of his job over the final years of his period with Ferrari. F-2004 was one of the last cars truly designed by him.

We bet any F1 enthusiast would even think of missing the Golden Opportunity (especially the diehard fans of Ferrari) of interacting with Rory Byrne.

So, Friends Come out of paddock and line up for a 7G ride in your respective cockpits.

Nexus Mumbai

Date: 11th October

Venue: IIT Bombay

After two very successful events at Indore and Hyderabad and a groundbreaking TOP competition at Pune, the Nexus bandwagon had arrived at its homeland – IIT Bombay. Over a 120 teams had already participated in the Nexus competition till the a far greater no was expected to come at here (the expectations were so high that we  had to make a brand new arena a few days before the competition so that it would  finish at the scheduled time). With record times tumbling at the previous venues (the best time being 2.6 sec at Pune), all was ready for the, soon to be, best nexus ever (:O).

The competition began with a bang with, over 90 teams registering in the first hour, and the best time soon beaten of the competition soon reached 2.4 second by the end of round one. With two arenas running simultaneously, round one got over in no time the top scores at the end of it being 2.4 sec, 2.6 sec and 2.7 sec.  Just as it had happened at the other venues, the second round was much more interesting and thrilling with the teams doing far better than they did in the first round and the best times shifting even lower.

At the end of it we had about 110 teams participating, which was a little below our expectations, (we expected around 140) but a good number nonetheless. Teams from places as far as Aurangabad, Indore and Satara participated in the competition.
The winners of the Mumbai Nexus are as follows:

1st Position

Manoj Kumar Meena and team from IIT Bombay, Mumbai – 1.3 sec

2nd Position

Brijesh Pandey and team from Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Engg. And Tech., Waranagar – 1.6 sec

3rd Position

Shashwat Malot and team from IIT Bombay, Mumbai – 1.7 sec

Mumbai Nexus saw many unique designs like this one that used Liquid nitrogen to run instead of the conventional Solar cell. Here is a pic of that bot…

However, we could not accept it as a valid entry because it did not satisfy a few rules.. nevertheless a brilliant design !!!

Also, one of the youngest participants was 13 year old Vishan Popat who had come from all the way from Vadodara to participate in the competition. He registered an impressive timing of 1 min 8 sec. which was by all means significant as compared to his competitors who were mostly engineering students.

All in all, the competition which one of the many firsts by Techfest, marked the beginning of the trend of Solar Robotics in the country, at a time when renewable sources of energy seems to be the buzzword. But as compared to the universities abroad, the Indian students have a long way to go in this field. We hope for the trend to continue and grow into a significant branch of popular robotics in the country and with the kind of response that has been received we can very well expect it to happen.
And of course … here are a few pics…
Enjoy !!!