During the first phase of Idea research, fifteen research projects were undertaken by the students. Their reports were screened through blind refereeing and 6 papers were selected for the next level of competition for the “Best Idea Research Paper” award and the rolling trophy.
The event was judged by an eminent panel of judges, comprising of Dr. L. M. Bhole, Professor, Dept. of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT, Mumbai, Mr. Dinesh Narayanan, Senior Assistant Editor, Times of India, Mr. R. Krishnamurthy, MD, Watson & Wyatt Insurance and Mr. Harish Aiyer, Director, Softcell Technologies.
The event started with the traditional invoking of Goddess Saraswati through lighting of the “Panchmukhdeepam”. This was followed by an opening speech by the director of the SIESCOMS, Dr. A. K. Sengupta. In his speech, Dr. Sengupta spoke about the “Thinking Society” which will lead to the awakening of nation and hence growth.
The six groups presented their research presentations with passion and answered the questions fielded by the panel and students. The competition was really tough and in a nail biting photo finish, the paper “Bio-Medical Waste Management” presented by the Pharma students won the award and the rolling trophy for the “Best Idea Research Paper”.
First Runner up prize went to “Indigenous and Imported Raw Material and Equipment in the Indian Bio-Technology sector” presented by Biotech students. The second runner up prize was won by “Public Sector V/s. Private Sector Banks in India” paper presented by the Banking & Finance Students.
The judges also made invaluable observations and comments during and after the presentations and applauded the effort by students in this research initiative, and awarded certificates of participation for all the 15 groups.
On this occasion, Dr. L. M. Bhole released a compendium of all the fifteen Idea Research papers that were completed during the first phase. At the end of the event, Dr. Vandita Dar, who heads the Idea Research initiative, delivered the vote of thanks and emphasized that this was only a humble beginning and lot needs to be done to take this initiative to greater heights.