The technical fest of Institute of Engineering and Management, started from the year 2013. It was the brain child of Prof. Prabir Kumar Das and a few seniors of the college. Innovación began its journey drawing its inspiration from Kshitij- the annual tech-fest of IIT Kharagpur. The first edition was a relatively small event compared to the current 8th edition that had being organized at a large scale in January 2019, which has eventually evolved as the greatest tech-fest of Kolkata. Over the years, Innovación has grown bigger with increase in the number of events and sponsors. Now, Innovación is one of the premier technical fests in Eastern India. Some of its many events included the “Hell in a Cell’, Tracker, X-Race, Robofooties, Algorithmist, Hackstack, Webolve, Electrocuted, Electroslides, Counter Strike Go, FIFA 19, PUBG Mobile, Mathemagic, Aperture, Quiz – Cruisade, and many more.
Technical Activities in the fest:
Robotics:-
The “Hell in a Cell’ was the flagship event of the fest, where robots fight with each other. If one robot manages to defeat or damage the other one, that team is the winner. Usually, a large number of teams participate in this event from all over India.
The next big robotics event was the “Tracker” in which a robot completes a designated path within a certain time. The lines have different challenges such as loops and curves. There are three levels; the higher the level, the path becomes more difficult and complex; and the winner is decided in the final level. “Robofooties” was another interesting event. As the name suggests, the event is where the robots play football. The balls are placed along the whole field and a single robot has to net the ball inside the goalpost. The maximum times the robot nets the ball, higher is the score. Another robotics event was the X-Race in which a robot has to travel along a path like an SUV!! That is, it has to be prepared for any dirt, the hills, the pots, the caves and other obstacles. The robot has to pass through the obstacles to win the race.
Coding Events:-
For all the coding enthusiasts, there was “Algorithmist” – a coding event; where the teams had to write respective codes in any computer programming language. Another coding event was called HackStack where one had to build a unique android or web app. Webolve was a team event of two members where the participants make a website on their own. It consists of two stages. The first stage is a MCQ test, in which the team is asked about the basics of Web Development applications. The next round is the actual website making competition where the participants qualifying from round one participate.
Electronics Events:-
A research work related event was the “Electroslides” where students wrote a research paper in a poster format which were then put on display inside the college. Another electronics event called Electrocueted had two rounds. In the first round, the participants clear the MCQ test for qualifying to the next round. The MCQ test is based on the fundamentals of Analog and Digital electronics. In the second round, the participants perform hardware implementation of two problems on breadboards to meet the demand specification.
Management Events:-
There was a management event in which the participants had to prepare a business plan. This event was jointly hosted by the IEM Entrepreneurship Cell and the INNOVACION. The IEM Entrepreneurship Cell encourages the students to consider self-employment as a viable career option and to guide and explore them in the field of Innovación as well. Another management event called Bull Master was related to virtual stock market where no real money is used.
3D Design Events:-
Mad-Cad was a 3D Design event in which people good at Auto-CAD or Computer Aided Design participate. Here a problem or a design is given to the participants and the participants had to complete it using Auto-CAD.
Science and Exhibition Fair:-
Innovación also had its own Science and Exhibition fair called “Innovare”, where the participants come up with different innovative ideas; be it a robot, paper work or a model.
Gaming Events:-
Of late, mobile games and computer games have also been introduced in recent times owing to their popularity with games such as Counter Strike Go and FIFA 19. This year, PUBG Mobile gaming was also introduced. “Mathemagic” was an event for all the math lovers. Here also, there are 3 levels with each level consisting of 3 sums. There was also a quiz contest known as the “Quiz – Crusade”. And finally, for some artists in the fest, there was a photography contest called the “Aperture” where the selected photographs are put on display inside the campus and the jury members decided the top 3 best photographs.
Participants and Winners:
About Rupees 5 lakhs were kept for winners for different events. Innovación is usually equally supported by its sponsors as well. Some winners also get to do internships in the different sponsorship companies.
Campus and its environment during the tech-fest:
The whole campus becomes lively during the fest. Almost all the students of the college participate in different events or are involved in volunteering. Moreover, there are no classes during the tech-fest.
The next tech-fest:
The next tech-fest will be probably in the month of January next year. The probable dates are 22nd January, 2020 to 26th January, 2020. The organizers also take care that Saturdays and Sundays are included within these dates so that students from different colleges can participate in the event. Since, the events will be more or less similar in the next year as well; hence, if you would like to participate in one of the biggest tech-fests of India, start preparing from now, in events that interest you!
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