Anokha 2016, the sixth National level Tech-Fest of Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore, was held from the 18th to 20th February, 2016 at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore campus. Anokha 2016 is the first techfest in India with United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) accreditation. The current year’s theme of the fest, “Sustainably Developed Technopolis”, was in line with UN Sustainable Developed Goals (SDG).
Over 15,000 of the best students from top-ranking Indian engineering institutions like IITs, NITs, IIITs, BITS Pilani, as well as foreign universities thronged to the Amrita School of Engineering to take part in the technical fest- Anokha 2016. Countries like the USA (Texas A&M University), Indonesia, Cameroon, Morocco and Egypt sent representatives. The fest was inaugurated by Mr. T. R. Parasuraman, Deputy Managing Director and Member of the Board, Toyota Industries Engine India, Bangalore.
Dr. Sasangan Ramanathan, Dean of Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham said, “Anokha aims to encourage engineering students from all over India and the world to come together to display their fervour for science and technology. In just five years, it has become the top engineering tech-fest in the country. I am confident that Anokha 2016 will emerge as yet another grand avenue to showcase and celebrate the innovation, ingenuity, teamwork and talent of engineering students.
A series of workshops and interesting competitions were the highlights of the festival, viz., 75 highly competitive contests and events in all branches of engineering, robotics, pitchfest, business, social entrepreneurship, gaming and short-film making; 24 cutting-edge workshops such as IBM Bluemix, Mozilla Hackfest, Horner Automation, CANSAT – Satellite Design, RC Aircraft and underwater robotics. Thematic workshops such as Solar and Wind Energy and Hybrid Electric Vehicle and events such as Urban Eco Township Planning and research paper presentation on Technology for UN SDG were outstanding parts of the fest.
IDEATE Start-up Pitchfest, supported by Amrita TBI, had a special focus on social entrepreneurship garnering over 250 submissions including 60 start-ups. Other highlights included School Wiz quiz competition, which was introduced for the first time. There was also a Model United Nations (MUN) Young Leaders Meet with simulation of four councils, namely DISEC, HRC, ECOSOC and SC of the UN.
Lumière, a distinguished premium talk series in which inspirational speeches and success stories were shared by successful persons from different walks of life, included Armstrong Pame, IAS Officer; Arun Krishnamurthy, Environmentalist and Founder of ELF; Bhakti Sharma, Open Water Swimmer; Harish Sivaramakrishnan, UI Engineering Expert and Rockstar, Mani Vajepeyajula, Founder and CEO of Banyan Nation and Dr. Alexander Muir of AMMACHI Labs, who was former Design Researcher at Microsoft.
Entertainment spectacles included Eventide Musical Show by renowned playback singers, Haricharan S. and Shakthisree Gopalan and performances by Ragasudha & Natyasudha, student clubs of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
Various societal initiatives were supported and showcased, including self-help and tribal groups selling Lantana Wood Furniture; Khadi Handlooms and a visually impaired group produced gifts and accessories.
Prize money up for grabs was a whopping Rs. 15 lakhs. E-pictures short film contest was judged by the technical team behind the recent Tamil movie, Jil Jung Juk, led by the movie director, Deeraj Vaidy, who is also an alumnus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
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Anokha Techfest 2016
