Creativity in tech

See a humanoid talk, night drones race and robots battle at the VJTI festival

Technical festivals can be so much more than a set of contraptions and quizzes, and that's what Technovanza at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) is out to tell us. A few highlights at the festival include the VJIT Mumbai Cube Open (in its 10th edition) that will see participants from around the world battle it out in solving versions of the Rubik's Cube, even blindfolded and using their feet. "The idea behind this and the other events is to introduce a dash of creativity in a technical festival," explains Abhijit Krishnan, media executive at the college.

The showstopper, however, will be the event where visitors might get a chance to interact with Sophia, a social robot developed by Hong-Kong-based Hanson Robotics, the first of its kind to have bagged a passport and citizenship. Though this isn't Sophia's first visit to Mumbai (she had visited IIT Bombay in 2017), she will interact with the audience and also give a talk to inspire young students in the world of technology. "We have already received a whopping 7,000 registrations to meet Sophia and are expecting many more," reveals Krishnan.

Sophia

Besides competitions and events, Technovanza will also be witness to technological displays from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre that will introduce students to research in nuclear power and space missions, respectively. ISRO will take the students through each of their missions and the research involved in them. The festival is calling out to not just students, but anyone who has an interest in technology and a curious mind to experience the exhibitions and displays.

On December 28 to 30
At Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, HR Mahajani Road, Matunga.
Log on to technovanza.org
Free

Other events

. Robo wars: Two robots with weaponry battle it out in a closed arena.
. Night drones: Watch the night sky lit neon in this night drones racing competition.
. VJTI Robotics Challenge: Here, a manual bot and an auto-bot undergo a themed challenge.

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