Kushal Kumar Pothula, class IX student from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Dharwad, emerged as the winner in the second edition of The Hindu Science Fest ‘Aavishkar’ held here on Saturday.
Among the 120 teams that took part in the event, the project designed and developed by Kushal on ‘Thermo electricity using e-waste and temperature gradient’, was adjudged as the best, and he took away the trophy and cash prize of ₹5,000.
Hrushikesh P. Karamadi and Rohit M. Guddin, both class IX students from Mallasajjan English Medium School, Dharwad, bagged the second prize and cash prize of ₹3,000 for their project.
Vinay Hulibandi and Srujan Desai, both class IX students from Kendriya Vidyalaya Dharwad, bagged the third prize which carried a purse of ₹2,000. The first three prize winners also received trophies and merit certificates.
Five teams were chosen for the consolation prizes, and Sangameshwar Public School, Solapur, Maharashtra, and Jindal Vidyamandir, Tornagallu, Ballari, were honoured with ‘Catalyst Award’ for encouraging the students to take active participation in the event.
The winners of ‘Aavishkar’, The Hindu Science Fest, with the dignitaries in Hubballi on Saturday.
Commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Suresh Itnal; chairman of Excellent Science and Commerce P.U. College, Moodbidri, Yuvaraja; entrepreneur Jayaprakash Hebsur; and judges Nagaraj Shetty, Shashwath M.N., Basanagouda Patil, Guruprasad Bagal, and Manohar Kotturshettar, secretary of NKSSIA, gave away the trophies and cash prizes to the winners.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Itnal said it was the duty of every citizen of the country to develop scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform. He said developing scientific temper would go a long way in building one’s personality, especially among students.
Lauding the initiative taken by The Hindu , Mr. Itnal said such events would encourage students to think and innovate. At a time when interest in science was dwindling, such events would help in igniting the young minds.
By taking interest in science, one could become an entrepreneur, an innovator or an industrialists, he said, and called upon students to develop scientific temper and subsequently contribute towards nation building.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Mr. Kotturshettar and Mr. Shashwath, professor, KLE Technological University, called upon the students to keep on innovating, experimenting, and redesigning their projects so as to arrive at best design for their projects.
Mr. Yuvaraja spoke about scientists and how they brought about a change through their inventions and innovations. Quoting instances from the lives of scientists who have made India proud, Mr. Yuvaraja said knowledge, attitude, and skills were important for students to achieve their goals.
Appealing them to make use of the opportunities made available to them, he told students that there was no short-cut to success and only perseverance and hard work would help them reach their goals in their chosen field.
Students Gayatri and Rahul shared their experience during the event. Students from various schools from the districts of Dharwad, Davangere, Ballari, Chitradurga, Haveri, Gadag, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, and Solapur in Maharashtra participated in the science fest.
Consolation prize
The consolation prize winners were Veeresh S. Mattikalli and Veerabhadra S. Danganavar, St. Antony’s Public School, Hubballi; Nidhish V. Dombe and Basavaraj S. Bagodi, Pavan School, Dharwad; Lohith Bhimappa, Talawar, and Sushilkumar P. Honnihalli, Mallasajjan School, Dharwad; Pavan M. Angadi and Karthik, U.N., National Public School, Ranebennur; and Lavanya Rahul Jadhav and Sania Bidri, Sangameshwar Public School, Solapur.
Catalyst prize
Pravan V. Patil and Abhishek P. Koppad, National Public School, Ranebennur; and Kushal R. of S.R.S. Heritage School, Chitradurga were the Catalyst prize winners.
Sponsors
Excellent Science and Commerce PU College, Moodbidri, was the sponsor of the event and ‘Shubhodaya’ was the venue partner.
