A chance to interact with a Nobel laureate was the high point of a science fest, themed “An eye on the Future” hosted recently by The Study, L’ecole Internationale.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, 2009 Chemistry Laureate, was at the school to open the Mariam Block, exclusively designed to house futuristic science based laboratories. The block will have an ‘Atal Tinkering Lab’ and labs focusing on 3D printing, fabrication and piloting drones in addition to having state-of-the-art labs for existing sciences.
Dr. Ramakrishnan later took part in an interactive session where students presented papers on various topics including ones on the count of bacterial flora on student’s palms before and after school hours, waste segregation in the dumping yards at Puducherry and its impact thereof on the people living in the vicinity and the problems of water body contamination.
And, when a few students threw a few questions his way, Dr. Ramakrishnan patiently shared his insights on the unlimited possibilities of science.
He also emphasised the importance of being ready for technologies under development, the inherent benefits and concomitant disruptions.
Vice-Chancellor of the Pondicherry University, Dr. Gurmeet Singh chaired the oral presentation and poster presentation session.
Unconventional thinking
Dr. K.M. Cherian, chairman of The Study while offering felicitations urged students to think out of the box and to utilise every opportunity that came their way.
Among the other dignitaries were Dr. Reeba Kanungo, Dean Research and HOD, PIMS, Dr. King Herald Kisku, Head of Pulmonary Medicine at PIMS, R. Smitha, Director, Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Ramesh, Senior Environmental Engineer and Hannah Vasanthi, Professor, Department of Biotechnology.
Alice Abraham Chacko, the school principal also participated.
