Pragyan, the ISO 9001 and 20121 certified annual International Techno-Managerial fest of NIT Tiruchirappalli, was held from 22-25 February 2024. Comprising a plethora of events, workshops, panel discussions and guest lectures, the 20th edition of Pragyan was conducted with the theme of Chronocle: A Saga of Time.
Apart from priding itself on a reputation of being one of the largest festivals of its kind since 2005, it also has a history of hosting events across multiple clusters, workshops by reputed industry leaders and guest lectures by brilliant minds from around the world. Pragyan has consistently been a platform for students to showcase their ingenuity and provides young minds across the country the opportunity to exchange ideas, and this edition was no different.
Exhibitions, Sangam, and Ingenium
The Student Center for Innovation in Engineering and Technology, or SCIEnT, collaborated with Pragyan this year to host a two-day event titled OpenHouse. The event showcased a multitude of projects made by the student community, spanning technical clubs and departments, and even featured select startups founded by students. This year, in an exciting development, the organising team extended invitations to investors and venture capitalists, who took part in judging the exhibits of the students. Their presence highlights the collective ambition to propel these projects from the ideation stage through pre-incubation and ultimately to market-ready solutions.
Ingenium, the highly-anticipated technical contest at the national level, witnessed fierce competition among talented minds hailing from various colleges across South India. The flagship event emphasised the importance of pursuing novel ideas by young technocrats and a platform to showcase their ingenuity through innovations, creations, and inventions. The themes for this year’s Ingenium included Healthcare, Environment, and Defence Technology.
Pragyan also held its flagship hardware hackathon, Sangam, for all the technophiles that call NITT home. Sangam followed suit in terms of this year’s themes, which are healthcare, environment, and defence. The problem statements laid the foundations for an all-out competition that inspired participants to push the limits of creation to discover new horizons for breakthroughs within existing industries.
Additionally, Pragyan’s ESI team hosted its annual exhibition, where participants witnessed multiple innovations in technology. The exhibits included the Zafira Robot by Propeller Robotics, AI-enabled drone by Enord Company, the Bionic Robo Arm by Symbionic, Bionic Quadrupled Robot, Bionic Bird, Multi Humanoid Robots, and Gesture Controlled Drone Experience, and a VR walk-through experience by Mr Rajasekhar S from Andhra Pradesh, the UAV Drone by Garuda Aerospace, ISRO Space Bus, Rhumi hybrid rockets, aerodynamics education kits, and satellites by Space Zone, Chennai, and an Auto Expo by Pure EV. The Indian Air Force displayed miniature aircraft, and the Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited displayed tanks.
Events, Workshops, Guest Lectures, and Crossfire
Pragyan boasted a unique forum of events, spanning domains like management (MANIGMA), coding (BYTEHOC), robotics (ROBOSPIRE), and more. With a total of 34 events across 7 clusters and a combined prize pool of ₹11L, the events were a testament to the quality standard Pragyan holds itself to.
The three and half days of the fest saw workshops held by 12 companies, including Data Analysis and Visualization using PowerBI workshop by KPMG, Ethical Hacking and Cyber Security by HT India Labs, and Analog Design by Intuition by Texas Instruments a few to name.
The twentieth edition of Pragyan saw many insightful talks in its guest lectures. Scott E. Augenbaum, a cybercrime prevention expert at the FBI; Arsh Ali, India’s youngest archaeologist; Seshasayee Kanthamsraju, CEO of the world’s largest film studio – Ramoji Film City; Shreyas Dasgupta, an alumna from the batch of 2002 who is now the director at Analog Devices, Savio Mascarenhas, the Group Art Director of Amar Chitra Katha, Chandrachur Ghose, a researcher, writer on economics, environment, history, politics, a well-established author, and a TEDx speaker, and Anuj Dhar, a former journalist, and the Nobel Laureate Dr. Sir Richard J Roberts graced Illuminaire series of guest lectures.
Pragyan’s flagship debate, Crossfire, was conducted offline in Pragyan, after three long years, on the topic “War and Social Change: Revolution vs Non-violence”. The panel included Prof. Kapil Kumar, Chandrachur Ghose and Anuj Dhar, lieutenant commander Bijay Nair – a retired naval officer. Prof. Amar Farooqui from Delhi University and an author; Mallika Joseph, the Assistant Director at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Prof. Sanjeev Kumar, a professor of political science at the University Of Delhi; and Rahul Easwar an avid TEDx speaker, an Indian public policy commentator, and an activist from Kerala. The Moderator for Crossfire was Mr Harish Mahadevan, an experienced leader with a proven track record of exceeding expectations in domestic & international companies and over 16 Years of Excellence in driving success in Teams and Projects.
Social Responsibility and Other Out-reach Events
In an effort to give back to the community, Pragyan established a Social Responsibility wing in 2012 and has since launched a number of programs to serve different societal groups. The second edition of Techids was conducted this year with the intention of giving bright young minds a forum to study technology and be inspired by its potential. Hundreds of youngsters have benefitted from Pragyan’s Social Responsibility initiative, Bag Of Delights, which aims to enhance the atmosphere and environment for children attending government schools. A 32-hour Hack-a-thon was held on the 27th of January, 2024, at Virtusa Navalur Campus, Chennai, where participants tackled problem statements in domains such as Blockchain, Environmental Sustainability and Smart City.
The written medium serves as one of the most influential means of communicating ideas, information and stories. The Pragyan Blog witnessed another successful year, with a roster of literary pieces covering various themes, from mathematical wonders to architectural history and the conflict between science and faith. The Pragyan Podcast saw enlightening episodes such as “A Med-evil Conversation,” which focussed on the neglect women face in healthcare and “A Phone-y Discussion,” which describes the rise of smartphones from primitive media players
The Content Team also actively worked on two editions of ‘The Pragyan Times,’ a newspaper-esque campaign in an effort to help the people within campus premises know about Pragyan ‘24. Informational articles, brain-racking puzzles and other innovative writings were published and shared throughout the institute.
Another Side of Pragyan – Games and Shows
Fun events such as Gamescape, the flagship gaming cluster of Pragyan, included the unification of technology with entertainment. Pragyan ‘24 witnessed over 800+ participants who took part in the various fun-filled clusters of Laser Tag, Gaming Lounge, and RC car games.
The Pragyan Infotainment Team was also committed to providing an interesting array of shows on each of the 4 nights. The first three nights of Pragyan ‘24 saw a fire show by Kaashi Fire Warriors, a performance of jump-rope tricks by the Skippers Crew from Varanasi, a light show by The Light Crew from Germany, as well as the talents of Aerial Arts India and Laurabracadabra. The fourth and final night of Pragyan ‘24 witnessed a soulful musical showcase by the band Non Violinist Project, and the National Award-winning playback singer Naresh Iyer.
Conclusion
Pragyan will continue to be a platform to provide exclusive opportunities for students, irrespective of their background. Going 20 years strong, Pragyan ‘24 was nothing short of a remarkable success. This edition’s theme, Chronocle: A Saga of Time, is an ode to Pragyan’s past and a call to Pragyan’s future to evolve with time and reach new heights.
A big thank you and heartfelt gratitude from Pragyan ‘24.
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