Last weekend, the Amritapuri campus was home to thatched roofs, paddy fields, water wheel and a crowd of bustling students. Disguised in this serene village ambience Vidyut’ 14 disseminated lofty sustainability concepts and strategies of technology driven development. This year, the activities of the national level multi-fest revolved around the theme of “Technology for Humanity”. Vidyut’14 propagated translatable concepts of Smart Village which relies on implementation of eco friendly renewable resources aimed to satiate the energy and material needs of 70% of our population living in villages.

Amrita School of Biotechnology momentarily transported the visitors from the buzz of a University campus to serene, yet Biotechnologically savvy village termed ‘BioVilla’. Fully equipped with a hydroponics pond for plant as well as fish cultivation, a blooming kitchen garden, and a rural bamboo hut, ASBT’s BioVilla exhibits aesthetically expressed the Smart Village concept by proposing various Biotechnological solutions for the villages. Methods of rainwater harvesting and water purification were also conveyed through models, along with a working biogas model built by the students. Inside the BioVilla hut were not clay pots and firewood, as one would expect, but dye-sensitized solar cells and microbial fuel cells – just a couple of examples of the ongoing research at ASBT. Both of these technologies could possibly provide alternative and smart energy sources for our villages in the future. Displayed long the walls of the pavilion were posters of the 3^rd year student’s project works which gave visitors a glimpse of the research activities of ASBT. The young and the aged who composed the cross section of the visitors appreciated the concept equally.

In addition to BioVilla – The Biotech pavilion, ASBT also hosted the ‘In Silico’ workshop on virtual labs for Biotechnology and applications as well as the ‘Forensic Wizard’ event. In Silico, opened new avenues of virtual lab experience for the participants in the areas of Neurosciences, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Ecology and Bioanalytical Techniques. The workshop was attended by over a hundred participants on the first day of Vidyut’14. In Forensic Wizard, contestant wore the cloak of a detective and put to use their scientific acumen to unravel the mystery behind a crime scene.

All in all, ASBT along with the other schools in Amritapuri campus made Vidyut’14 a memorable and enriching experience for everyone.

February 07, 2014
School of Biotechnology, Amritapuri