An improvised dirt track turned into a battleground as remote controlled cars built by mechanical engineering students picked up pace, throttled on obstacles deliberately set up to trap them and raced to the finish line.
The remote control racing (RC) event was the highpoint of the national level technical symposium, MASS 2K12, hosted by the Mechanical Engineering Department and MESA (Mechanical Engineering Students’ association) of J.J.College of Engineering and Technology.
One of the few colleges in the region to host a RC race, student organizers said the event was a launch pad for propelling innovations.
The race tested the maneuvering abilities of students and the capacity of the cars to mount obstacles along the 400 metre track and come out of the ordeal with all wheels intact.
In a dash for survival of the fittest, Sarath Uday and team from SRM University, Chennai, bagged the first prize of Rs.20,000 followed by Dinesh and team from Banari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam.
Around 250 students representing 50 colleges in Tamil Nadu participated in various events including Theatrix- a short-film making contest with a focus on mechnanical ventures, aero-modelling, technical quiz, paper presentation and CAD modeling.
A workshop on recent trends in non-destructive testing by Tiruchi Chapter of Indian Society of Non-destructive testing preceded the symposium.
A mini vintage auto expo with eight bikes of various makes dating back to 1947 was part of the event. Inaugurating the event, G. Jeyaprakash, general manager, SSTP, BHEL, dwelt on the harmful effects of carbon emissions. S. Sathyamoorthy, principal and V. Shanmuganathan, advisor, JJCET, spoke.
