Students and researchers should focus on solving problems in society, G. Viswanathan, Chancellor, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), said while addressing students at the inauguration of ‘graVITas 2018’ , a carnival organised by VIT and Valeo in Vellore, that will go on till Sunday.
Over 15,000 students from over 200 colleges are taking part in the event.
Terming it as a festival for the development of the country, the VIT Chancellor said the event was held in order to come up with solutions for industrial, services and agricultural sectors in India. “We, the educated public of the country, have a duty towards development of society and the country,” he pointed out. He wanted students to do research and reduce power transmission and distribution losses, which is having an impact on the country’s progress.
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“It is 20% in India. A portion of the loss is is due to inefficiency, theft and free power,” he said.
Moroccan Ambassador to India Mohamed Maliki outlined his country’s relationship with India and spoke on fertiliser trade with India. P. Ravichandran, president, Danfoss Industries Private Ltd, Chennai, said engineers had a huge role to play in solving the country’s problems.
Jaji Vijayaraman, research and development director, GEEDS India, Valeo India Private Ltd, provided information on the MoUs signed by his company with VIT and the importance of industry-academic relations.
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G.V. Selvam, vice-president, VIT, said industries refer their problems to educational institutions and students and researchers could can solve them.
“This year, graVITas has agriculture as a subject. We will strive to solve the problems faced by the agriculture industry,” he said.
At the graVITas event, two VIT students, Maria Sebastian and Pranathy, won the Danfoss Best Project awards.