IIT Bhubaneswar draws 3,000 students to its annual techno-management fest Wissenaire ’21

Three thousand students from 300-plus colleges fought for a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh at Wissenaire ’21, the annual techno-management fest organised by IIT Bhubaneswar from April 1 to 4.

ABP Education was the digital media partner for the 11^th edition of Wissenaire.

Colleges that participated in Wissenaire ’21 included C.V. Raman Global University, Bhubaneswar; Utkal University, Bhubaneswar; Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar; Andhra University, Visakhapatnam; Raajdhani Engineering College, Bhubaneswar; Nutan Maharashtra Institute of Engineering and Technology (NMIET), Pune; and Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), Bhubaneswar.

V.K. Aatre, former DG DRDO and Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, was the chief guest. Comedian Karunesh Talwar brought the curtains down with his stand-up act.

College students took part in...

Inter-college competitions ranged from quizzes and creative writing to showcasing one’s entrepreneurial and problem-solving skills. A few that caught our eye were Counter Cypher (coding), Quizzaire (quiz), INVSTR (stock market), Analog Circuit Design (electronics) and Lan Wars (games like Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive). 

 School students tuned into...

With a cash prize of Rs 10,000, School Champ was the battle ground for students from Class VIII to X. It pitted them in four competitions.

Cryptogram Puzzles involved solving a puzzle around an encrypted text, Questionnaire measured their logical thinking, Memory Challenge tested their memory and Brush Your Brain revolved round cracking sudoku.

Winners were chosen after a round of interview, which tested their communication skills, spontaneity and accuracy of answers.

Takeaways of the Wissenaire ’21 organising team:

“Conducting the fest in online mode made us explore new methods, competitions, workshops, events and talks. We got to see new dimensions of the problems that could come up,” said Chaitra Vardhan, a third-year Metallurgy student and the events and management core head of Wissenaire’21. 

“We organised Wissenaire virtually for the first time. I’m glad that we have done it successfully. Karunesh Talwar’s stand-up act at the end was the cherry on the cake,” said Rithik Prasad, a third-year Computer Science Engineering student and the public relations core head of Wissenaire '21.

(Author bio: Haichai Nandy is a first-year undergraduate student of Journalism and Mass Communication at Asutosh College)