S. Vishnu Sharma
Students of IIT Madras are conducting a contest to create technical awareness among school students of classes 1 to 12 across India.
Students of IIT Madras
The contest being conducted by students of IIT Madras is called Shaastra Juniors and is being held completely online from 1 to 3 October this year to enable students from all parts of the country to participate from the comforts of their homes.
Shaastra Juniors will comprise a fun-filled weekend filled with events, shows, lectures and workshops focused on kindling students’ interest in technical areas. The event will also have special trophies for the best school and excellent students.
That is not all. The contest being conducted by students of IIT Madras will be available for the public to review free of cost. The contest being organised by students of IIT Madras will be available for viewing on the link ‘https://juniors.shaastra.org/competitions’
Unique aspects
Dr. Shaikh Faruque Ali, faculty advisor, Shaastra 2022, IIT Madras highlighted unique aspects of the contest being conducted by students of IIT Madras.
The comeback with the second edition of Shaastra Juniors being conducted by students of IIT Madras will be even more enriching, educational and entertaining.
The team of students of IIT Madras has put extraordinary efforts to create an immersive experience and instill the spirit of science and technology among school students, he said.
Speaking further about the event being held by students of IIT Madras he said the high-spirited events, workshops and competitions are sure to have students yearning for more.
The pandemic has taken a severe toll on the functioning of the entire ecosystem, and hence we decided to launch the second edition also in a completely online mode so that students can participate from the comfort of their homes, said Dr. Shaikh speaking about the contest being conducted by students of IIT Madras.
The key events
The key events of Shaastra Juniors being conducted by students of IIT Madras are:
$ Tech Voyage: A virtual event that would feature a wide array of high-tier technology companies exhibiting their products and providing descriptions regarding their progress.
These sessions will also include a Q&A from the audience. Exhibits in diverse fields from biotechnology to sustainable technology would be open to everyone.
$ Graffiti: A competitive event to encourage students to discover their hidden talents and creativity. It will feature three key concepts: Students creative expression of the topic, use of various resources and explaining the concept in a simple, yet effective manner and their originality, colour harmony and the visual appeal of the final presentation.
This will be a poster-making/collage/artwork competition, related to a social campaign provided by Shaastra.
$ Intro to the computing world: The session will deal with coding, various languages and related areas. This workshop intends to introduce school students to various trending programming languages, their features, and future possibilities.
The aim is to help school students find and develop their own interests, by providing a practical section with each major programming language, starting from scratch.
Events
Nitish Gupta, co-curricular affairs secretary of Shaastra 2022 spoke about various events being held as a part of Shaastra Juniors, the contest being organised by students of IIT Madras.
Shaastra Juniors also includes sessions to foster interest in Astronomy and Astrophysics and help school students visualize these highly-technical fields, he said.
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‘Shaastra Nights’ will showcase the juxtaposition of music and technology. Our latest series ‘Reverb’ aims to bridge the gap between technology and music, he said.
School students
The competitions to be held as a part of Shaastra Juniors which is being conducted by students of IIT Madras aspire to ignite school students’ minds.
Shaastra will award the best schools and students for their excellence with interesting prizes. Points will be awarded for the grand Shaastra Junior Championship based on student participation from each school and their winnings that has been elaborated on the event website ‘https://juniors.shaastra.org/’
Exhibition
The virtual tech exhibition will also be held as a part of Shaastra Juniors which is being conducted by students of IIT Madras. This is expected to win the admiration of school students.
Shaastra Juniors being organised by students of IIT Madras also includes a live demonstration and a recorded video to explain the working of such projects.
Flagship event
The flagship event in the contest being conducted by students of IIT Madras is ‘Shaastra Junior Chess Championship,’ which would be preceded by a lecture by a chess prodigy.
Mr. Niranjan Navalgund, FIDE (International Chess Federation) Master will be the Commentator for ‘Shaastra Junior Chess Championship’.