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Techfest 2004–Asia's biggest, and IIT Bombay's popular annual
technological festival is now seven years old and yet new! Held
from the 24 - 26 January with a vivid spectrum of events ranging
from competitions to lectures to exhibitions, Techfest attracted
the participation of over 15,000 students, faculty, corporate
executives and eminent personalities from all over the world. True
to its reputation of doing new things every year–be it holding a
defense exhibition or showcasing Sony Aibo robots playing
football–Techfest 2004 introduced Cliffhanger, the international
rope-climbing machine design contest, probably the biggest
milestone for Techfest yet. About 60 teams out of 400 were
short-listed for the event, including three from the
'Rest-of-the-World' category (NTU Singapore, University of
Peradeniya Sri Lanka, and Institute of Engineering, Nepal).
 Tech-a-tete, the distinguished lecture series of Techfest promises
the participants rendezvous with the "who's who", and some of the
high-profile achievers of our times. This year, Techfest played
hosts to Dr Bharat Balasubramanian, Vice President of 'Engineering
Technologies', Daimler Chrysler; Prof Kevin Warwick, Professor of
Cybernetics, University of Reading, UK; Dr Raghuram Rajan, Chief
Economist of the IMF and Director of American Finance Association
(over video conference); Prof Yash Pal, India's most popular
scientist; Prof Alex Pentland, Founder Director Media Labs Asia;
Dr Narendra Bhandari, member of the Moon Mission task force
constituted by Indian Space Research Organisation; Prof Urjit
Yajnik (IIT Bombay) and Prof D Narasimha (TIFR, Mumbai).
Competitions have always been Techfest's mainstay. They enable
students to construct, destruct, simplify, complicate, understand
and battle it out in challenges designed to instill the spirit of
'striving to achieve the best'. Numerous teams participated in
over 25 competitions with a total prize of over 6 lakhs. IIT
Bombay clinched the overall trophy for the second year in a row.
Yantriki, the robotics event was a huge success, the other two
events in it being Micromouse and Last Man Standing. For the first
time, fully autonomous robots built by the participants solved the
maze in Micromouse successfully. IIT Bombay bagged both the first
and second positions. Last Straw stuck to its philosophy of simple
but stimulating design problems. The challenge was to make a Crane
and Impact-resisting structure with straws. The participants also
made a 21-feet high tower out of drinking straws to register
themselves in the 'Limca Book of Records'. Chemsplash came back
with rejuvenated vigour with la porsChe and High Spirits, in which
models are made using only chemical power. It also included
various quizzes and modelling competitions like Turbulence and
Dexter's Den.
A prominent feature of Techfest is the Workshops where the
emphasis is not just on 'Learn', but also on 'Do while you learn'.
Over the last several years, attractive workshops on Cryptography,
Wireless Networking and Forensics have been held; this year's
topics included Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Aeromodelling,
Gaming, Car Technology, GPS/GIS and Smart Materials.
A highlight this year was the Indian Naval Exhibition. Inaugurated
by Rear Admiral S K K Krishnan, the exhibition showcased
technologies used in the Navy. The theme of the exhibition was
built upon the basic functions of a warship. The exhibits gave an
insight into the complex technologies contributing to making the
ship, a cohesive, self-contained fighting unit. Equipment
displayed depicted the four essential functions of a warship–to
float, to move, to seek, and to destroy.
The last day of the events coincided with Republic Day. To
celebrate this occasion, the Aakaash Ganga team of the Indian Air
Force performed a breath-taking feat of para-jumping on the
campus. The event drew a very large body of spectators.
Mr. Ferenc Cako of Cako Studios Hungary (and of Seoul
International Cartoon & Animation Festival ‘SICAF’ fame),
performed in India for the first time at Techfest. This very
unique and novel show involving figurative painting with sand to
the sound of music and projected on a screen, was held in the Open
Air Theatre of IIT Bombay before a capacity crowd of 4000! The
attractions at Technoholix included: the Sci-Tech quiz hosted by
renowned quiz master Barry O'Brien, the display of a Formula 3 car
(from the stables of Tata Racing team), Colosseum–the gaming
arcade, and the Dirt Track Racing competition.
In all, Techfest provided an enriching and exhilarating
experience, especially to students who had traveled from various
parts of the country to participate in the event.
* Overall Co-coordinator, Techfest 2004
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Editorial