Shaastra 2015, IIT Madras, Technical Festival, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3rd - 6th January 2015

Registrations Closed
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Event Type:
Venue/Offline Mode
Start Date :
3rd January 2015
End Date :
6th January 2015
Location :
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Organizer :
IIT Madras
Category :
Technical Festival
Shaastra 2015

About Event

Shaastra is the annual technical festival of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Being a completely student-run festival, it holds the distinction of being the first of its kind in the world to be ISO 9001:2008 certified. Heralded as the largest student managed festival in India, any edition of Shaastra is always awaited with enthusiasm from students all over the nation. Shaastra 2015, slated to be held from January 3th to 6th 2015, has been built around the theme of Designing Dreams, and has several new initiatives and events to do exactly the same. Research Initiatives Since the last couple of years, the Research Magazine at Shaastra has provided a platform for the research community to exhibit their work to the academia and industry. The successful Pan IIT Research Expo, held at the previous edition of Shaastra proved to be one of the best research exhibitions in the country. This year too, we continue this movement and seek to expand our horizons. This expo brings together the very best of four groups - research scholars, academia, alumni and industrialists under one roof to discuss, deliberate and interact. In a world driven by new and innovative research, this revolutionary initiative, which seeks to deliver groundbreaking ideas is sure to change the face of research in India. Shaastra Lecture Series It’s not just about shows and competitions, though. The learning experience at Shaastra is facilitated by the unparalleled Lecture Series. The pre-Shaastra Lecture Series started off with Dr.Robert Langer, the most celebrated scientist in the field of Bio-materials from MIT, USA delivering a spellbinding talk. Among the other world renowned speakers set to grace Shaastra this year are famous academicians such as Mr.Sunil Kumar the Dean of the Booth School of Business and Ms.Romila Thapar, the renowned Indian historian from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The Series also features Dr.Anil Kakodkar, a distinguished nuclear scientist, the ex-chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and Ms.Archana Sharma, a physicist from CERN. A spectacular series of exhibitions is just another of Shaastra’s several treats this year! Envisage Envisage, the first ever fully student-run technoentertainment show, is back, bigger and better! This year we are all set to up the ante, with an experience you just cannot miss. Taking on greater heights, we attempt to set the world record for the largest colour display of the Persistence of Vision. Witness a visual extravaganza that is sure to leave you spell-bound with Shaastra’s Envisage 3.0. The IIT Madras International Symposium The IIT Madras International Symposium is a platform for bright minds across the country and beyond to meet and engage in debates about emerging global challenges, and explore new perspectives, innovations and avenues to address these issues. At IITM, the participants will meet other students from various universities across the world and encounter new world views and ideas. India is caught in a flux between unbelievable growth on one hand, and widening inequalities on the other. To navigate this wide spectrum of people, and to form inclusive policies such that it caters to every member of a very diverse society, as the world’s largest democracy must, remains a challenge. Following a decade of rapid growth fuelled by a prosperous service sector, indicators of health are still poor, health care infrastructure insufficient and plagued by inefficiency, and personal expenditure on health, which many can ill afford, continues to be high. Over the four days of the Symposium, the participants will be addressed by mentors from the fields of technology, policy and the social sciences, and will debate positions to improve present conditions. The discussions will involve questions exploring concepts like equality and democracy, the role of the state, and the market in healthcare. The IIT Madras International Symposium will address and deliberate on the issues under the following criterions: Health and Technology Health and Policy Health and Disparity The Pledge-A-Book Campaign The Pledge-A-Book campaign is Shaastra's attempt to give back to society and to create impact in the fields of education and literacy. This campaign aims to collect books which are donated by patrons of Shaastra, and use these books to set up libraries for underprivileged students. The campaign was flagged off by renowned science writer Mr. Anil Ananthaswamy. Since then, there have been several collection drives within the campus, including one at the Terry Fox Run Chennai, all of which have received a great response. We have received pledges from notable personalities such as Stephen Fry, Sudha Murthy and more. Shaastra has already confirmed associations with well-known NGO the Indian Development Foundation, and Avanti Fellows, and other associations are in the pipeline. The books collected through the campaign are being used to set up libraries for underprivileged students at IDF's Bal Gurukuls, as well as at Avanti Fellows' Learning Centres. We have setup libraries at Avanti Fellows and another NGO called Aaravam. The Pledge-A-Book campaign is our humble attempt at bringing change and helping design the dreams of the young. We would appreciate your support in this initiative. Join us, and help be the change! Pledge. Enlighten. Impact. The Entrepreneurship Confluence Shaastra has always encouraged entrepreneurship excellence. Taking this ideology to a higher level, Shaastra 2015 presents the Entrepreneurship Confluence, an event to discuss and deliberate the crux of entrepreneurship and its various other facets. The Entrepreneurship Confluence would include a panel discussion by IIT Madras faculty on taking their research forward and implementing them in the real world through business. Panel discussions by notable alumni is also on the agenda. This is to talk about the other route that entails turning your ideas into a business that is to startup at some point in your career after a stellar IIT degree. Successful startups from IIT Madras such as Hyperverge will be a part of this discussion and promises to be an enriching experience. The event also has an on-the-spot elevator pitch competition and will also provide networking opportunities to the participants. The Confluence would also include a discourse about the institute level facilities meant for entrepreneurship such as the NIRMAAN, CSIE and the Incubation Cell at IIT Madras. With prizes worth over Rs. 24 lakhs and never-seen-before events and exhibitions, Shaastra 2015 promises to surpass all its previous editions. Whether their interests lie in robotics, quizzing, computer programming, becoming future managers or learning how to fly an aeroplane, there will be something at Shaastra for every participant and spectator, irrespective of their age or interests. Further details can be found at www.shaastra.org and www.facebook.com/Shaastra or follow us on www.twitter.shaastra.org

Event Caption

Designing Dreams

Departments:

CSE ECE IT EEE Instrumentation Mechanical Civil Chemical Metallurgy Arts Industrial Physics Ocean Aeronautical Aerospace Material Automobile Design Marine Ocean

Related Links:

Technical Fests Technical Fests in Tamil Nadu Technical Fests in Chennai Management Fests Management Fests in Tamil Nadu Management Fests in Chennai Chennai Tamil Nadu IIT Madras Shaastra 2015