Axis (technical festival)
| Type | Student-run non-profit technical event |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| Place | Nagpur, Maharashtra, India |
| Institute | VNIT, Nagpur |
| Slogan | Redefining Reality |
| Website | axisvnit.org |
AXIS is the annual technical festival of the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur. Traditionally held in the month of September or early October, AXIS has grown to become one of the largest technical festivals in India and the largest in Central India. AXIS organises over 40 events, exhibitions and workshops, encompassing multiple engineering disciplines, with an aim to provide a national platform to attract and nurture talent in the fields of science and technology. AXIS also undertakes various social initiatives which strive to bring about a change in the lives of those less fortunate than themselves. Started in 2004 after merging two traditionally held festivals - the IEEE Expressions and Odyssey, AXIS has come a long way from its modest beginnings and annually attracts over 25,000 school and college students from different parts of the country.
Structure and Organisation
AXIS is an entirely student organised event. At its helm are the 12 core committee members, who oversee all the aspects of the techfest and manage the finances, publicity and logistics, among others. Each event has its own (third year) event managers and (second year) organisers, who interact directly with the core team. AXIS also has the assistance of professors-in-charge, who are the professors in VNIT. The strong and well-established VNIT Alumni also assist the coordinators in varied aspects of different events.
Inaugural Evenings
The most awaited inaugural addresses of AXIS have been delivered by some of the most distinguished personalities in the field of science and technology. Known for being interactive, inspiring and instigating, they provide students an opportunity to closely interact with their role models.
AXIS'14 received the most auspicious inauguration by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (late Former President of India and founder of India's missile program) Dr. Kalam's motivating oration was aimed at moulding the leaders of tomorrow, and his unforgettable words - "I will fly, I will fly, I will fly" remain etched in the memories of every person present in the audience on that memorable day. AXIS'15 saw Dr. Dinesh Keskar(VNIT Alumnus and Senior Vice President, Boeing Commercial Airplanes) revisit his alma mater to inaugurate its technical festival which has grown in leaps and bounds since his time. As an engineer himself, Dr. Keskar delivered an extremely relatable depiction of his journey from a VNIT graduate to working under Neil Armstrong, and instilled in the audience a sense of purpose and a firm belief that they have it in themselves to scale the pinnacles of success.
Events
With a plethora of events encompassing a wide variety of fields like Automation and Robotics, Construction and Design, Software and Electronics, Management, School Events and many more, AXIS attracts some of the brightest and most creative young minds from all over India.
Automation and Robotics: Featuring an enclosed battleground with only one rule - Seek and Destroy - RoboWars attracts a huge number of participants and spectators alike every year. The car racing event Mechatryst witnesses young racers/engineers race to the finish. Other events in this category include Autobot, Robo-Cup and Aqua-Hunt to test robotic implementation skills. Also included are the events Techno.Docx - a technical paper presentation event, and Contraption - which requires the contestants to complete a given set of tasks while maximising energy conversions.
Construction and Design: The Architectural events Devise and Crepido test efficient design and implementation skills. The on the spot event Paradeigma requires the participants to design a model from scrap material. Aqua-Skylark and Turbo-Flux involve generating hydroelectricity using simple pumps and building water propelled rockets respectively.
Software and Electronics: A big hit with coding enthusiasts, this category's events are Insomnia, an all- night coding event, Cryptocrux, an event where debugging and decryption skills are put to test, and other events like Animazione and Posterolic, which receive enthusiastic participation from design and graphic aficionados.
School Events: Started in 2014, Dexter is a nationwide aptitude test targeted at school children in classes 8th to 12th and witnessed the participation of over 15000 students in AXIS 2015. Junior Scientist, targeted at the school students in and around Nagpur, sees overwhelming participation in its various sub-events like MUN, Quiz, Mathamaze, Catapultikon and Model Making.
Management and other events: The event Who's the Boss tests critical and analytical thinking skills. Wall Street - a virtual stock exchange provides contestants with an insight into the share market. Other events include 221B Baker Street - the online quiz attracting international participation, Freak-O-Matrix, a mathematics event and the hugely popular LAN Gaming event - Gamesutra, which had NFS, FIFA, Dota and Counter Strike in its last edition.
Industry Interactive Events: Introduced for the first time in 2015, Kartavya is a social event where the participants have to find solutions to the problems faced by NGOs in their daily operations, thus instilling them with a sense of social responsibility. The event Coll-In-Coll served as a platform for students to present their solutions to industry-oriented problem statements, and the winners were offered internships in prestigious companies like NTPC and Bajaj Steel Industries.
Exhibitions
Featuring some big names like NDRF and DRDO, AXIS Exhibitions are an excellent source of erudition and have been inaugurated by distinguished personalities like the late former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr. Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
AXIS'13: 2013 saw the Geological Survey of India put up a riveting exhibit of priceless gemstones, audio-visuals on meteorite showers and dinosaur eggs. Also, on display were exquisite vintage vehicles by Volkswagen.
AXIS'14: Organisations like DRDO and AMD(Atomic Mineral Directorate) exhibited various resources available in India and also organised informative discussions, attended by prominent scientists and the Missile Man himself, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr. Kalam also graced the exhibition 'Tech Connect', which featured innovative technologies like Biped Bot, an all terrain vehicle, advanced sorting algorithms etc., all developed by the students and faculty of VNIT.
AXIS'15: AXIS'15 featured exhibitions by TCS, IVLABZ, National Innovation Founder(NIF) and the National Disaster Response Force(NDRF). Also on display were the self-made cars by VNIT's very own Team V-locity, Bioloid robots and brain wave sensing machines by Robokart.com, and a Batman’s very own batmobile replica 'Azrael'.
Workshops
AXIS organises various workshops to bring students up-to-date with the latest technologies. Organised under expert guidance, these workshops are major crowd pullers, not only in Nagpurbut in other cities as well.
AXIS'13: AXIS'13 included workshops on Web Development and Ethical Hacking. The sixth-sense Arduino Botz workshop saw students successfully attempt to interface the digital world with physical surroundings. Also, on this list is the Mobile Robotics Workshop, organised in association with Robotic Wares Pvt. Ltd. at Marathwada Institute of Technology(MIT), Aurangabad. The workshop dealt with controlling a functional robot with a mobile phone and was a grand success.
AXIS'14: The three-day 'Biped Bot' workshop concerned itself with the construction of a walking robot and programming of an Arduino microprocessor. Participants used their creativity to make the root waddle, kick and perform jumping splits. The workshop on 'Internet of Things' focused on automation of daily household appliances using RaspberryPi. An outstation workshop wherein students learnt about Sixth Sense Robotics on Arduino was conducted in Jabalpur.
AXIS'15: Workshops on latest technologies like Cloud Computing, Quad-copter Construction and Haptic Robotic Arm were educational, informative and were met with an overwhelming participation. Workshops focusing on Architecture and Design like Bridge Construction and Vernacular Architecture were successfully conducted. AXIS expanded its reach to Pune in 2015 with a workshop in PCCOER, Pune on Haptic Robotic Arm.
Proshows and Attractions
Axis ’15 organised two proshows, Laser Show and Tron Dance. The Laser Show was a mesmerising proshow, with the AXIS logo being illuminated by lasers. The Tron Dance was a sight to behold, with dancers lit up with LED lights setting the stage on fire. The Quora Meetup was undoubtedly the show-stealer of AXIS ’15. It gave VNITians a once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with four of the top writers of Quora, Niharika Banerjee, Ankush Saxena, Aishwarya Nair and Tejasvita Apte.The audience asked questions on a myriad of topics, and the writers enlightened and charmed VNIT with their witty and insightful answers.
Social Initiatives
AXIS conducts social initiatives year round aiming to bring the rich technical knowledge of the students and infrastructure at their disposal to benefit the less fortunate. These social initiatives are done with the assistance of organisations like Make A Difference and Prayaas. The social initiatives under AXIS have been:
- Eureka
- Voice the Revolution
- Graffiti drive
- Craft a Smile
- Itni si Khushi
- Blood Donation Camp
Eureka
A social drive where students from municipal schools put forth ideas for innovative experiments that are then conducted in the labs at VNIT. This event aimed to make sure that the lack of infrastructure in their schools does not kill their curious and ever questioning young minds. This event succeeded in conducting over 450 experiments over the course of the year.
Graffiti Drive
Students from the Architecture and Planning department at VNIT drew Graffiti throughout the city of Nagpur with the association of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. These graffiti attacked social problems like female infanticide, excessive smoking, lack of female education etc.
Itni si Khushi
AXIS ’15 created Itni si khushi, a documentary exploring the lives of a few child workers, and the struggles they go through to make ends meet, in association with Sine Vave, a startup by VNITians. It shed light on child labour.
Blood Donation Camp
AXIS ‘15 also conducted a blood donation camp in VNIT’s health centre, in association with Prayaas, the Social Club of VNIT. It was an extremely successful initiative, with hundreds of students pouring in to donate blood and thus, help save lives in their own little but significant way.
Apart from these street plays were held throughout Nagpur by the VNIT dramatics club, HallaBol to spread social awareness in the Indian society.
References
- Inauguration of AXIS'15 by Dinesh Keskar
- Kalam Inaugurates AXIS 14: The Times of India
- TCS Guest Lecture on Digital India
- Innovative exhibits on display at AXIS'15
- DRDO exhibits at VNIT exhibition
See also
External links
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