The Indian Institute of Information Technology, in Sri City, recently organised a three-day summer camp ‘Future Bright Innovators’ for class XI students. A dozen students, from select schools in Chennai, participated in the event, which also included students from schools in Bengaluru, Nellore and Tirupati.
They also visited the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, and declared it the highlight of the trip. “It was an enchanting experience as we got to see the whole Centre, up close.
The guide took us to the launch pad and explained its function. Later, we also visited the Mission Control Center. We even got to see rocket pre-launch events,” a student wrote in the feedback form.
New experiences
Kala Senthil of the Hindu Senior Secondary School, Chennai, said, “It was a wonderful experience. For the first time, class XI students were getting exposure to concepts such as robotics, cybersecurity and Internet of Things. It was about shaping students’ careers and exposure to teachers too.” She further admitted that as robotics was not part of the CBSE curriculun, the experience was new to them.
IIIT director G. Kannabiran said the objective was to provide a preview to computer science and engineering, electronics and communication and encourage creativity and innovation.
Students could interact with people who had set up startups of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research Park. The workshop packed a quiz on artificial intelligence, machine learning and a boat ride on the Pulicat lake.
A demonstration of prototypes such as mini radar, smart village wells, communication between vehicles in water, mobile controlled robot car, all created by research scholars of IIIT Sri City, was especially held for the students.
Mr. Kannabiran said in the next camp, students from 25 schools would be invited. “IIIT Sri City plans to conduct leadership programme for principals of select schools and a training programme for senior science teachers,” he added. said.
