IIT Madras Has Opened Up its Labs for Students and Visitors

In a first, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras has opened its doors for the public.

Established in 1959, the institution is known for the cutting-edge research that students conduct. In an attempt to expand and engage with more researchers, the institute has decided to make the laboratories open to visitors on recently.

The current opening of doors is part of the ongoing Shaastra 2018 tech fest.

From a hand-held device to detect adulteration in milk to testing of the aerodynamics of projectiles and studying the reaction of the human body to Ayurvedic therapies, PhD scholars working on a host of projects welcomed students from other colleges to their labs to showcase their work, as reported in TOI.

This is a great opportunity for students from other colleges and institutions. Almost 500 students were allowed to access the laboratories after going through an online registration process.

“Institute open house is a window to the world of research and development at the level of nuts and bolts that happens in laboratories of IIT Madras, be it at the hardcore scientific, or engineering level, or engineering level, or at the abstract and theoretical level,” said MS Sivakumar, Dean (students), and IIT Madras.

With an annual footfall of more than 40,000 visitors and participants, Shaastra is one of the biggest inter-college fests in Asia. It is the only student-managed event in the world and the first ever festival to be ISO certified.

This year will include ‘spotlight’ lecture series, hackathons, Aerofest, a green energy summit, a carbon zero challenge, a rural energy challenge and even an EDM night.

Source: The Better India