NIT-T’s Pragyan attracts visitors with a host of programmes, exhibits

Pragyan, the annual techno-managerial festival hosted by National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi (NIT-T), has been showcasing innovation and technical excellence through various programmes in its 22nd edition.

This year, student projects were in the spotlight during the Open House exhibition organised by the Student Centre for Innovation in Engineering and Technology (SCIENT).

The team from Robotics and Machine Intelligence (RMI), for instance, is working on a bionic arm that accurately interprets muscle signals and translates them into responsive movements. “Bionic arms and grippers are among the most sought after devices in the medical field. Our prototype is more affordable than commercial models,” Tarun, RMI technology head, told The Hindu.

RMI is designing a compact remotely operated underwater vehicle.

The Orbit Club, the official student rocketry team of NIT-T, has been working on designing and manufacturing the airframe of rockets.

In the start-up space, the nascent Dailykaam company offers an on-demand workforce platform for daily and monthly wage employment across India. “We are trying to organise our country’s vast informal workforce digitally and do away with the traditional labour agency model that was exploitative in nature. We plan to open a branch in Tiruchi soon,” said founder and CEO Ayush Rajput.

The pavilion of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Department of Atomic Energy, showcased industrial applications of nuclear energy in the field of plant biotechnology, medicine, and food preservation, besides models of various projects.

Among the commercial exhibits, visitors got a glimpse into the inner workings of cars through the Toyota stall. ZeroWings Aerospace’s ZW Skywash utilises drones to clean windows of skyscrapers using the Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) subscription model.

An exhibit of 30 vintage two-wheelers set up by Janani Motorz was a big draw with young visitors.

It is estimated that over 15,000 students have visited Pragyan since its inauguration on February 19. The festival, which includes competitive events, is scheduled to end on February 22.