Mangaluru: The Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST), the first State S&T Councils to be set up in the country, and Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management (Mangaluru) jointly organised a press meet regarding the 38th Series of Student Project Programme at Deepa Comforts here on August 18.
Addressing the mediapersons executive secretary KSCST Dr S G Sreekanteswara Swamy said, “In order to improve the quality of engineering education, the Council had embarked on a major venture during 1977-78 – the Student Project Programme (SPP) – to select good projects in various disciplines/areas from various engineering colleges, fund them and to provide technical and academic support. The Student Project Programme is one of the important programmes of the KSCST; it involves students and faculty of engineering colleges in taking up projects oriented towards coming out with practical solutions for developmental problems of the state, more specifically those relevant to rural areas. SPP was initiated during 1977-78 and has undergone substantial qualitative and quantitative improvements over the years”.
The Student Project Programme has, by now, stimulated a large number of students and faculty to think about the problems in their immediate surroundings and to use their knowledge and training to improve their environment. This process has been ably assisted by more than one hundred faculty members of the Indian Institute of Science and experts from various other research institutions and departments of government. The engineering colleges of the State are keenly interested in this novel programme. The Student Project Programme of the KSCST has attracted the attention of educationists and technologists in the entire country.
SPP’s objectives are: to apply creativity of students to solve development problems of our people and State through Science and Technology; to enrich college education through finding solutions to real life problems; to improve understanding and develop methodology for solving complex issues.
The work discipline acquired by students in evolving and executing their projects improve their analytical and technical capabilities and methodology, enabling better performance at job interviews, besides getting a formal certificate of recognition. The sponsorship, by Karnataka State Council for Science & Technology, has become a benchmark of quality for engineering student projects and these projects have been highly valued by both academic and industrial communities.
SPP, when started in the year 1977-78, supported 81 projects, from 13 institutions. Now, during the 38th Series (2014-2015) of this program, the Council received 1630 project proposals from various disciplines from over 130 engineering colleges in the State. These project proposals are scrutinized by experts from Indian Institute of Science, NAL and other institutions and has approved 459 project proposals from 113 Engineering Colleges under this 38th Series of SPP. KSCST has supported Rs. 25.84 lakhs as a assistance for the projects. After the nodal centre evaluation the experts were identified and selected 253 projects for the Seminar & Exhibition.
So far, over 7500 projects have been supported by the KSCST under this programme during last 38 years.
The activities of 38th Series of SPP started in October 2014. The Council contacted experts from Indian Institute of Science and various R&D institutions in identifying thrust areas for selection of student projects.
The Council is organizing the 38th Series Seminar and Exhibition on 20st and 21st August 2015, at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangaluru. The programme is being inaugurated on 20th August 2015 at 10 am by Prof Jayant M. Modak (Deputy Director, Indian Institute of Science). Dr H Maheshappa (Vice Chancellor, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi), the Chief Guest of the function, will be releasing the SPP Engineering Compendium and Compact Disc and will address the gathering. Guest of honor A K Monappa, IAS (Managing Director, Karnataka State Biofuel Development Board and Hutti Gold Mines Company Limited) will be releasing the SPP Biofuel Compendium and address the gathering. Guest of honor Manjunath Bhandary (Founder Chairman, Bhandary Foundation) will be addressing the gathering. Prof M S Mohan Kumar (Secretary, KSCST) will be releasing the book on “Geographical Indicators of Karnataka” and will be presiding over the function and Dr S G Sreekanteswara Swamy (Executive Secretary, KSCST) will also be participating in this state level programme and encouraging the young engineers to take up more R&D related activities.
During these two days, seminars and exhibition of selected projects will be held. In this 38th Series of Student Project Programme, Seminar and Exhibition, 94 projects have been selected for Seminar, 35 projects are selected for Seminar under Biofuel/Bioenergy area and 124 projects for Exhibition. These Seminars and Exhibits will be evaluated by a panel of experts consisting of scientists and engineers from Indian Institute of Science and National Aerospace Laboratories, Bengaluru and other research organizations. Some of these selected projects will be awarded as best projects of the year and the best performing college will also be awarded. The awards will be presented during valedictory function.
In addition, to the above, a special lecture has also been arranged during the course of this programme. Dr. A. Narendranath Udupa, Principal Scientist, Phillips Research, Bengaluru will be delivering technical lecture on “Control Strategies for Renewable (Solar) Energy Integration” on 21st August 2015 between 10.00 to 11.00 AM.
The focus of the seminar and exhibition is not only to provide the forum for the students to present their work, but also to educate them on current developments in the field of engineering and technology. The exhibition is also open for students and general public on these days.
The Valedictory programme of this Seminar and Exhibition will be held on Friday, 21st August 2015 at 3.30 pm at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangaluru. Dr L V Muralikrishna Reddy (President, The Institution of Engineers (India), Kolkata) will be the Chief Guest of the function, Prof Lakshman Nandagiri (Department of Applied Mechanics and Hydraulics, NITK, Surathkal) will deliver Valedictory address. N Lakshman, Director – Technical, Chamundeswari Electricity Supply Company Ltd. will be the guest of honor. Manjunath Bhandary, Founder Chairman, Bhandary Foundation will preside over the Valedictory function and will be addressing the gathering. They will be distributing the prizes to award winning projects and colleges. Dr. U M Bhushi, Principal, Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangaluru and Dr. S. G. Sreekanteswara Swamy, Executive Secretary, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, Bengaluru will address the gathering.