The IEEE Student Branch Chapter, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri Campus, won the “The Darrel Chong Student Activity Award” for the year 2017 under gold category, for the International Symposium on Education, Technology and Entrepreneurship (ISEE) 2016. The ISEE 2016 is the flagship symposium by the IEEE Student Branch, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. It aims at bringing various academic disciplines under a single forum. Consisting of various science and technology based lectures and workshops, the symposium is held over one day in the month of August. ISEE attracts participation from all over India, and seeks to provide collegiate students with a platform to excel in their talents. Embracing uniqueness in appearance and management, ISEE is entirely student managed.

The gold medal winners, M.S Sarath Kumar, Amritanand Sebastian, Vinu S, N.Vignesh, Yadu Krishnan K, Aparna P.T.A, Rachana, G. Sriharsha, S. Vignesh, Rajesh .G, B. Likhith, Arsha V.V, Pallavi Praful, P. Sai Surya Teja, K. Sai Kumar, Lakshmi Sree .D, Guru Prasadh J.P, Vishnu Rajith, Parvathy Gopal, Meghna Prakash, Nirmal Elamon, Keerthana I.K, C. Sagin Manoj, Nithin Asok, Harsha Hari and Aparna Ram S.S (Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) 2017 pass out batch), G Vamsy Vivek, N Ashwin Kashyap, K G S Apuroop, G Sri Teja, B Sricharan, Ch. Ravi Teja, Sarath Sreekanth, Akhil Raj, Md Juned Rahi and Shiva Bandyopadhyay (4^th year ECE), Abhijeet Prem and Aniketh Das (3rd year ECE), were guided by Dr. Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, Assistant Professor, ECE Department, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri. The Student Branch of Amritapuri, has demonstrated steps toward improving the quality of IEEE Student Activities and the fostering of knowledge sharing. The team was evaluated based on the projects and activities conducted throughout the year. The awards will be presented to the students later in an event.

The purpose of this recognition system serves to change the mindset of the student groups, from being number-driven, to becoming value-driven and to acknowledge exemplary student activities around the world. The goal is to improve the quality of activities, and to foster knowledge sharing among students. Ultimately, the initiative is targeted at improving student-membership growth. This will encourage and motivate students to continue to innovate and implement meaningful ideas.

The ISEE 2016 was conducted on 6^th and 7^th August, 2016, with more than five hundred participants. The workshop included Information Theory and Coding, IoT infrastructures for Embedded systems, Autonomous Room Cleaning Robot, Networking Systems Design, Data Converters Design using CADENCE, Programming and Controlling of ABB Robotic Arms, Launch Vehicle Guidance and Control. The Keynote address, about Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, was given by Dr. V R Lalithambika, distinguished Scientist at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. With more than 28 years of experience in the design and development of guidance and control systems, mission studies, NGC simulations and analysis for all ISRO launch vehicles, she has a scintillating record of projects and awards to her name.

The other speakers of the event were Dr. Manoj Karkee, Biological Systems Engineering, BSysE Agricultural Automation Engineering, Dr. Nithin Nagaraj, Assistant Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Dr. Purushothaman A, Vice-chairperson, ECE, ECE Department, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri, Dr. Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, Mr. Praveen Reguraman, Engineering Leader, Cisco Systems, Mr. Vysakh Pillai, System Level Software Design and Solutions, Wireless Silicon Portfolios at Microchip, Mr. Vishnu Rajendran S, Assistant Professor, AMMACHI Labs (Amrita Multi Modal Applications Using Computer and Human Interaction), Ms. Dhivya J P, Student, Amrita Center for Wireless Networks and Application (AmritaWNA).

“We are extremely happy that by Amma’s grace, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham IEEE Student Branch of our campus has won the international “The Darrel Chong Student Activity Award” for the year 2017 under gold category. We are winning this international award for the second time, the first in 2014 under silver category. This is the first time we are receiving a gold. Congratulations to all the IEEE Execom student members and other student members for this wonderful achievement. Thanks for all the support we get from The Director, Br. Sudeep, Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar, Associate Dean, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri, Dr. S. N. Jyothi, Principal, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri and, Dr. Sundararaman Gopalan, Chairperson, ECE Department, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri”, said Dr. Rajesh Kannan.