3-day MIT fest offers something for all, from tech events on vehicles and robots to quizzes and presentations
3-day MIT fest offers something for all, from tech events on vehicles and robots to quizzes and presentationsu00a0
u00a0
If anybody thought technical fests were only about geeks and gizmos, then they would have been pleasantly surprised at MIT's fest Axlerate 2011. The three-day festival, organised by the department of mechanical engineering of MIT's Kothrud campus, invited students from across the country and combined technology, innovation and social responsibility to come up with an event that stood out and captured not just the imagination but many hearts as well.
Day 1On the first day, there were quite a few technical events, some of which appealed to those from non-technical backgrounds too. An event called I-magnet-ion tested the ability of students to use magnets or the properties of magnetism to develop workable devices.
u00a0
For computer lovers, Designer Pro proved to be a real test, where students had to use two computer softwares - AutoCAD and Pro-E.
The fest had a lot in store for non-technical students too. Events like box-soccer, which is a football match on a small-scale, and Virtual War that includes computer games like FIFA and Counter Strike kept the students from non-technical field engrossed and entertained. In another event, Catapult, participants had to hit a thermocol board with tennis balls using a catapult.
Second-year student Piyush Bhanarkar (19), who created a record at the event, said: "The concept was new and I made a good 130 points within the time limit of seven minutes."
Day 2The second day of the festival focussed more on non-technical events like Mind Your Own Business, wherein a business problem was given to the participants and they had to formulate an all-encompassing strategy to tackle the problem. The event was business-oriented and the concept was to test the students on their business management skills. The second one Designo required loads of imagination and creativity. They were given mouse, sharpeners and teabags and had to restyle a mechanism on paper by increasing the aesthetics of the product to make it more user-friendly.u00a0
Day 3The day proved to be encouraging for both technical and non-technical students, as it comprised paper presentations, quizzes, among others. Students from all fields of engineering participated in Presenta, a paper presentation competition.
Rev-o-lution, a quiz based on general knowledge, was popular with non-technical students. Along with these events, Rallymania and Robotica were two events that went on simultaneously for three days. In Rallymania, students had to race their vehicles on a given track. Robotica involved making of DC-powered machines to accomplish a certain number of tasks laid down for them in the arena. Praveen Puram (18), a student of NIT Nagpur, said: "It was a great learning experience and I wish to visit again the next year."
The best part of the fest was a bike made by the students of MIT School of Design that was kept on display. Rakesh Sinha, one of the five post-graduate students who created the vehicle, said, "The vehicle was made in five phases and the work started in last November."
