‘Flight of dreams’ held to kindle student interest in aviation

Hundreds of school and polytechnic students took part in the “Flight of Thousand Dreams” event organised by Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology (PMIST) at Vallam near here on Saturday.

The organisers said the event was aimed at kindling the interest of students in aviation at a young age. The platform provided by PMIST might sow the seed for pursuit of knowledge in aviation in the participants aged 14 to 18 years, as they were encouraged to design and test fly their handmade gliders at the Open Air Stadium on PMIST campus.

For a few minutes, the sky over the stadium was filled with around 1,000 gliders of different shapes and sizes made by about 1,900 students from schools and polytechnics in Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Pattukottai, Adhiramapattinam, Pudukottai, Mannargudi, Tiruvarur, Tiruchi and Jayankondam.

According to the organisers, the event was an attempt to supplement the objectives of the Tamil Nadu government’s STEM education policy, which integrates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, into a cohesive, hands-on learning model that emphasises real-world problem-solving, critical thinking, and practical application rather than rote memorisation and preparing students for future careers in a technologically driven world.