CHENNAI: Amid huge models made of scrap material and screaming race car drivers, the 13th edition of SHAASTRA, Indian Institute of Technology – Madras’ (IIT-M) annual technical festival drew to a close today. The finals of various events were held on Sunday, as the festival culminated to the satisfaction of both organisers and participants.Fire and Ice, the remote control car challenge saw excited students concentrating hard to race their cars to the finish line. Sounds of engines whirring and cars zipping past were galore as the crowds were treated to some good entertainment. A total of 14 teams participated in the event that was held completely during Shaastra. The first round consisted of a timing round where the cars were required to complete laps on a track with obstacles. The second and the final round had two cars racing against each other. A team from Maharshi Markandeshwar college of Engineering Chandigarh came first in the event.Junkyard Wars, one of the more challenging competitions, required participants to build working models out of scrap material. The hands-on event tested participants' creativity and simplicity in designing huge machines from nothing but junk. Participants were required to construct the most amazing machines with nothing but junk. Of the 170 teams registered in the first round, 30 were selected on the basis of a written paper. The final eight teams were asked to make a fork lift and they were given a dilapidated moped and lots of junk. There were several constraints placed on the device to be made. Teams were given complete access to the IIT-M workshop to complete their tasks.The test flights of the RC aircraft made in the Aero Workshop were also held early on Sunday. Eight teams of students were guided by student coordinators from IIT-M. Chandru, one of the coordinators of the event said, “The participants were given all the materials needed to build the aircraft. At the end of four days, they can now go home with a complete RC aircraft.”The plans were designed over the summer by three students of second year aerospace engineering — Chandru, Manu and Akhil. “The design was inspired by something we saw on the internet. After redesigning and tweaking to our specifications, the model is a lot different than from when we started out,” says Chandru. The finished aircraft weighed 1.5kgs, with a wingspan of 6 ft and tail to tip length of 4.5 ft.The finals of How Things Work, a quiz competition were also held. Other interesting events were IQ, which tested the participants' speed, accuracy, analytical skills and common sense and Ignobel, a take on the Ignobel awards which recognise whacky ways in which science has been used. Students were asked to write their own research papers with a twist.The symposium, which focused on the increasing need to unite the advancement in technology with the development of all facets of society, and the other hands-on and programming events, also marked the last day of the tech fest.
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