“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science,” said Albert Einstein. The tenth edition of Kurukshetra, the annual inter-college techno-management fest of the College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG), under the patronage of UNESCO, hopes to accomplish all this and more.
Last year’s edition of Kurukshetra saw more than 24,000 participants from over 800 colleges, with 33 events in six categories, workshops and guest lectures. This year’s edition, from February 17 to 20, aims at taking the fest to even greater heights.
The fest will kick off with the pre–k! talk — a guest lecture from Angelo Vermeulen, Belgian visual artist, space researcher and the crew commander of the HI-SEAS MARS Simulation programme funded by NASA. Joining him in the panel of guest lectures this year is Abhas Mitra, the former head of theoretical astrophysics at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
Workshops by ESRI on Connective Convergence, Samsung on Virtual Reality, IBM on Cognitive Computing, Alstom on Distance Relays and Substation Automation and those introducing novel concepts such as Growth Hacking and building 3D printers are just some of the projects to look forward to.
Also joining the lineup this year is Krithi, the exclusive k! workshop for school students, with the theme of Home Automation. StartUp Weekend, powered by Google, will be held again this year.
Other events include Robowars, Godspeed, Bank Robbery, Alcatraz, Enigma, Ninja Coding, Gambling Math, Model G20, online events such as Sherlock, Riddles of the Sphinx, Tame the Code and the Onsite Programming Contest.
E-for-Educate Initiative has been created and undertaken to motivate, to provide opportunity, to identify, analyse and provide tools to the current generation to solve problems.
The initiative has joined hands with BHUMI to recycle e-wastes collected from schools and colleges and to utilise the funds raised for the education of underprivileged children.
‘Asherah’, which removes the waste matter from water bodies with image processing techniques; Smart Auto’ which ensures that a complaint is filed against the drivers who do not use meters; an ingenious Android game, based on Dexter, the much loved mascot of Kurukshetra and a ‘2D writing machine’, that converts pdf format into human written form are some of the projects that will be on display.
For more details, visit www.kurukshetra.org.in.
