Kolkata :
Innovation and creativity were the hallmarks of the third Times NIE Science Project Competition held on Saturday at NSHM Knowledge Campus, Kolkata. Presented by NSHM Knowledge Campus, the event saw students from over 50 schools impressing the distinguished panel of judges with their projects on Physical Science, Life Science or Social Science. The projects were evaluated on three primary parameters: innovation, application and presentation.
The projects made by the students ranged from nanotechnology, hydraulics, cardiology, hovercraft, Everest climber, USB fan to smart stick for the blind, virtual reality, solar car, windmill, gastro-entro system, bottle tornado, robotics, gyro boat, Kepler space telescope and solar sound radio receiver.
The judges were Dr. Abhijit Chakraborty, professor and head, Crystallography and Molecular Biology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics; Dr. Rajendra Nath Basu, chief scientist and head, Fuel Cell and Battery Division, CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata and Dr Manish C Bagchi, CSIR Emeritus Scientist, School of Bioscience & Engineering, Jadavpur University.
The first prize was won by La Martiniere School for Boys for their project ‘Auto control street light’ which showed how street lights can glow for one or two km only on detecting vehicular movement. In second place was Calcutta Girls High School for their project, ‘Flix’, a hydraulic robotic arm which was based on Pascal’s Law. The Heritage School came third for their project on the advantages of automatic irrigation system. Special Appreciation Awards were given to 10 schools.
“At NSHM, we believe in learning by doing. In fact, we give emphasis on experiential learning. The kind of curriculum we offer are not typical academic courses. We call them professional degree courses which are different from the run-of-the-mill or traditional academic courses,” said Cecil Antony, managing trustee, NSHM Knowledge Campus.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Althea Phillips & Monalisa Chakraborty, TNN / November 17th, 2014