What happens when boys (and girls) who love their toys, come together in the name of all things tech? The TechFest at IIT Bombay! Spanning over the last weekend of 2015, the Powai based Techfest had it all – Cars, Bikes, Robots, Hackathons, Games and coding marathons. Plus, intrigued minds and the spirit of innovation in the very air they breathe.
More than 1.65 lakh people thronged IIT Mumbai from Dec 26 – Dec 28 to check out the exhibits, participate in daylong competitions and activities as well as catch the night performances. The Internet Of Things (IoT) summit and lectures brought in intrigued minds, companies and innovators to celebrate all things science and technology.
Here we bring you the best memories from the event:
Exhibitions at IIT TechFest 2015:
The exhibition areas were the perfect dose for drooling tech lovers; with ample displays in cars, bikes, defence sector innovations and robots. In fact, a segment was dedicated to supercars like Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 and Mercedes E Cabriolet.
Racing car Evo 5.0, designed by students from IIT Bombay, was also displayed during the event. With a much touted about top speed of 145 mph, the car is said to accelerate from 0 to 60 kmph in about 1.8 seconds.
Defence exhibits included those from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Defence Research & Development Organisation, Navy and Armed Forces.
OD’ing on Robots:
While we have already mentioned robots in the exhibits above, the keen focus on science and technology translated to humanoids who expressed emotions, talked, played football, danced and sang.
Apart from exhibitions, there were several competitions, workshops and activities around robotics. From the largely popular RoboWars to unmanned terrain vehicles, flight simulators, Augmented Reality, robots powered by the brain, gesture and senses, the event had it all.
Fun for family:
Crowds, from families to children on school trips, thronged IIT Mumbai for the 15+ events organised for entertainment – including Bungee Jumping, Giant Checkers, Sumo-wrestling and paint ball to name a few. The exhibits featured a similar crowd as did the night arena events.
Kate Chruscicka killed it on the electric violin on Day 1, closely followed in popularity by Afishal on the electric drums on the final day. Shadow theatre performance by Fireflies and projection mapping splendor from illusionist Alexis Arts (Stargate) on Day 2 were a close second.
Summit talks:
What is a science and technology festival without ignited minds? The lecture series and IoT summit at the TechFest 2015 may not have driven in the crowds – however, they did manage to bring in the Father of the Asian Internet Boom, Kilnam Chom; BitTorrent CEO Eric Klinker, among a host of others.
Summits on Water Harvesting and Cloud Computing received a smaller audience as compared to the exhibition areas. Further, Bob Frankston and Serge Haroche also marked their presence at the event on Day 2.
So, what does it all translate to? Though true blue enthusiasts have complained that TechFest 15 at IIT Mumbai was less on gadgets and more of a fun, family weekend, it did serve the purpose. Ozone events, exhibits and the night arena were the areas that kept all visitors hooked for more.
Slices from Life 