On The Penultimate Day...

You know you are working for a fest when your diary pages are scribbled with events and plans, when the Colornote app has infinite To-do’s, when your phone just does not stop ringing and when a biscuit or coffee offered by someone makes you say ‘aaj tu bhagwan ki tarah aaya!’ Welcome to NIT, Rourkela; welcome to INNOVISION’14! It has always proven to be the best way to “Innovate. Inspire. Ignite.”

Being an organizer is never easy; given that, when it comes to a national level event, you have to face the crunch. Your biological clock gets so confused that it prefers to go into hibernation and your profs dare not ask you why are you not submitting the assignments on time. During classes, you seem to note down the topic essentials when you are actually jolting down memos. From thinking out of the box to running in your own two shoes, INNOVISION’14 has made to do it all.

Just a day before the fest, I am jittery, yet confident as to how the fest will be. The institute is already engulfed in the festive mood and taking the shape of a grand happening arena. This is for all who have plans of sitting in their rooms and play CS or watch TV Series-we have both of these lined up for you. Come out of your rooms, meet the whooping student populace of 800 (being the lower limit) from different institutes of the country; share your ideas, compete for the top spot, dance like no one is watching and enjoy bonfire with your loved ones in the cozy winter of Rourkela. A toast for the entire Non-NITians - we are going to party hard together!

Come, join us! Drag the others with you, too!

"... there is nothing more difficult to arrange, more doubtful of success,more dangerous to carry through than initiating changes...
The innovator makes enemies of all those who prosper under the old order,
and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new."

-Nicolas Machiaveli, The Prince, 1513 

The Week of the Days

Ever wondered what the week before Innovision would look like? Take my word, it is pure excitement! The amount of efforts in that one week would be more than the efforts expended during the remaining 358 days PUT TOGETHER (including exams!).

A week filled with clubs trying ensure maximum participation for their events. SAC members running from pillar to post to finish any incomplete work. Students wondering whether or not to sign up for an event.

It is a must to say that this one week is what really counts. Meetings held almost every 6 hours (sometimes over phone), wheels of cycles wheezing on the streets and so on! The word of the week would be “Task”. Members are required to finish “tasks”. Tasks can be elementary, such as sticking posters and collecting materials from the SAC to insanely hard ones of finalizing sponsorships.

The most cumbersome task is the door to door campaigning to ensure maximum participation and spread the word about your event. You would be surprised at the sheer number of posts shared on Facebook to get an event publicized.

SAC members are probably the most affected by this. They have to distribute materials, setup up stalls, put up flexes and arrange the lighting for various events. With all this running up and down, the latest rumor about a surprise event has taken over all the place!

This Week. The Fest

The Thunder and The Lightening

This Innovision is coming with a bang and we already know it, for, the pre-fest organized for the respective events by their coordinators are here to let you know the true belief of our technical fest.

For those of you who think “nah, this is too top notch a competition for me, I won’t stand a chance“ but possess the inner passion to learn and try, this pre-fest is here to present you with a wonderful opportunity.

Guiding you through the basics of the field that the event represents (fields ranging from robotics to creating apps), the pre-fest events will help you to gather the confidence and courage you need to participate in the event. By teaching you from the scratch, they train you to become familiarized with what the event is really about so that you can glide through it knowing what you are actually doing. This way, even the students who do not have any idea about the topic will be able to participate and enjoy the proceedings during the technical fest. Well, this brings out the true meaning of Innovision.

Can’t wait to join the fest? Then hop into our pre-fest, which makes the largest technical fest of the state ever more interesting and delightful. Don’t forget to pack your cardigans 'coz you are surely going to get goosebumps and one or two chills down your spine with excitement in the growing winter.

The NITR Big Bang!

"Our Whole Universe Was In A Hot Dense State,Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait...The Earth began to cool,The autotrophs began to drool,Neanderthals developed tools,We built a wall (we built the pyramids),Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,That all started with the big bang!"

Familiar lines? Very few of us have failed to encounter the famous Big Bang Theory at point or the other of our lives – either as the scientific theory of, well, the big bang that set life into motion, or as the series that features Sheldon Cooper, the highly intelligent theoretical physicist. Getting back to the topic at hand, what I am talking about here is evolution. Mankind has evolved from tiny microscopic organisms to the complex, thinking rational species we see around us today. When seemingly impossible to solve problems were encountered by the species that we now call Homo sapiens, they ADAPTED as best as they could, and/or EVOLVED into a species better suited to dealing with the problem at hand. The Wheel, Fire, Agriculture… step by step, man exercised control on the world around him and it yielded to him, making his life easier and better.

Adaptation & Evolution – the key to survival. Since the beginning of life on earth we’ve emerged to be the successful species on the face of planet earth. Any challenge, in this 21^st century modern world or otherwise, requires one to adapt to the circumstances. Since it is not always possible to change oneself, hence one evolves. Because there were people who dared to think beyond what lay before their eyes, people who actually utilized that grey matter that all of us have to do something other than for routinely normal purposes, we live today in a world with inventions that made our lives simpler and discoveries that helped us to understand everything. Alexander Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Charles Babbage, Bertrand Russell, C V Raman, S N Bose … all these great minds, and many more, are great inventors and scientists, people who, with their lives as examples can prove to you how one ought to aspire to create the best you can, just by thinking out of the box.

INNOVISION '14 aims to test whether you can adapt and evolve yourself to emerge victorious in the events that you try your hands in. INNOVATE with what materials you have, INSPIRE your teammates and others to give it their best shot, and IGNITE the spark of creativity that lies in you, to create a faster, more efficient means to the goal. 

Quests Amidst The Horde

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer adventure.”

                                                                                                              - Eleanor Roosevelt

Ever wildly longed for a stirring experience? A treasure quest demanding brave-hearts to cross hurdles? An escapade calling for canny minds to solve the perplexing conundrum? For satisfying your hunger for adventure, Innovision '14 has packed the most enthralling ventures in its store to speed up both your beats and brain.   

                      

‘Genio-Di-Adventura’ is one such exhilarating event fusing general knowledge with adventure. Teams are required to clear up the questionnaire and the ensuing riddle in order to reach to the subsequent check point. The team succeeding to set foot on the final check point in shortest time shall be declared as the winner. Such is the case with the event named “Astro pirates” which adds a tint of astronomy to the treasure quest. With the aid of props provided, the contestants have to hunt for hints across the entire hall to decode the queries.  Another event to quench your thirst is “Kill to hunt” which is more or less a technical treasure hunt. Solving the given questions, the teams have to successfully accomplish the task allotted for getting the clues. "Mystery trail", a valiant event, requires first rate observational skills and common sense along with intense logical mind to pass cross numerous face off and arduous obstacles. To discover the Sherlock Holmes underlying your body, you beyond doubt should take up this challenge. "Quest runners" judges on the basis of coordination capability of your brain with the body.  Quite a trail, this event requires the participants to solve mind blogging numerical grills while sprinting across in the relay race.

Ergo, register yourselves apace in the above mentioned events to make those three striking days crammed with life, agitation and spark. With only 5 days to go, gear up yourselves ‘coz Innovision is already knocking on the doors!

From Far Off lands...

Want to hear golden words from prominent personalities live? Jump into the action at NIT Rourkela this October 31^st, for many utilitarian and heart felt lectures are waiting to be delivered at your doorstep. From everyday tips and hacks to providing you with motivation for exploring new things, the guest lectures at our campus are packed with words that are sure to blow your mind away and are waiting to explode!

Coming to the guests, ever heard of Varun Agarwal? Yes, 'The' Varun Agarwal!! I guess the name says it all. Want to hear more names? Well, that will take the “suspense” factor away but we assure you that all our guests are here to deliver you with lectures that are going to teach you things that'd live with you forever. Oh don't you worry. The next name will be disclosed in the next feed!

Now for the hospitality of our guests, we, the students of NIT Rourkela take the phrase “Atithi Devo Bhava” to the heart. We make sure that our guests feel at home. Thus, the salient role of the Hospitality team makes sure that our guests enjoy their time here and spread their wise words in their full potential. And of course, the fun!

Before signing off, 

Yaar koi fees wees nahin hai! Aa ke toh dekho, hota hai kya!!

Robots, Robots Everywhere!

With the robotics' passion swiftly dawning over the technical institutes of the country, NIT Rourkela has taken the leap forward in annually organising events pertaining to diverse kind of bots. Ranging from automated bots capable of following the specified path throughout the entire arena to the manually controlled aquatic bots proficient in water, the aspiring students of NITR have accomplished quite a deal in the ascending field of robotics. Every year these events witness participants emerging from almost every corner of the nation.

Enthusiastic participants both from inside and outside of the institute toil hard day and night until the bot has attained perfection both in shape and efficiency. Contestants spend sleepless nights in SAC (Student Activity Centre) steering their bots through the given path sketched in the arena unless all errors have been eliminated.

Watching the 'lively' bots programmed and controlled by the humans moving faultlessly just according to the problem statement is surely a treat for the eyes. In one such event, remote controlled bots are driven in perilous paths with fire burning in intervals and other identical obstacles.  Then in the line follower competition – ‘Tread-o-quest’, astounding bots are designed which follow the specified white line throughout the arena completing the task assigned to them. In the event named ‘Roboventure’ manually controlled wireless bots are left in the centre of the maze and driven out to the exit point in minimum time. Another event related to aqua robotics is the ‘Aqua Soccer’ where innovative bots are designed to play water golf, pushing the balls into the goal posts.

The robotics exhibition portraying all sorts of exceptional bots is generally held in SAC in front of an enormous crowd. Robots dancing to the musical tunes along with the toning light effects is quite a mesmerising sight. Slowly with the night unfolding, intricate mysteries of technologies are revealed that undeniably take every single audience to another level.

With such irresistible events, Innovision ‘14 surely has a lot more stirring surprises wrapped up in an ample package. So stay updated ‘coz the countdown has already started!

Unity in the Big Diversity

Every year students from all parts of India throng to this humble yet exquisite technical fest for seeking knowledge in countless ways. Keeping your foot in the campus during the fest is sure to blow your mind away. Students ranging from high school to PhD can be seen indulged with their sportive minds in various events, scattered all over the institute.

The institute, caparisoned with dazzling and innovative themes is a brilliant sight to see and strongly adds to the feeling of belonging to the largest technical festival of the state. Every department building hints to the fact that something outstanding is taking place. A walk through the institute leaves you mesmerized along with a memorable experience. The whole institute becomes vivacious in accordance with the mood that sets in.

The fest brings together students from various backgrounds and teaches the students all they can and want to know. Many activities like technical events, fun events, quizzes, competitions, adventurous events, treasure hunts, exhibitions, astrological events, workshops and so on and so forth are organized by the teams that flock in from all over India and of course our own NIT Rourkela Clubs for the sole purpose of providing the students with knowledge in exciting, fun and innovative ways. Who said it can’t be done in the fun way?!

                 

The Odd One Out

The NITR PD is an inter-college debating event that has been being conducted in the Institute for the last three years. The PD (Parliamentary Debate) works in the Asian style of Parliamentary Debating, wherein two teams, the government and the opposition, consisting of three members each, support or oppose the given motion. The adjudicators decide who emerges the victor based on which points stood, and which points didn’t. The tournament generally comprises five rounds, with the best eight teams breaking into the quarter finals, which are followed by the semi-finals and finally the finals.

The tournament has witnessed participation from all parts of the country. Last year, the Core Adjudicators (CAs) were Adhiraj Mukherji, Rahul Seth and Siddharta Thyagarajan, all prominent and experienced members in the debating circle. After exciting rounds with the debate motions based on different themes like movies, hypothetical and political, IIT KGP won the tournament and DSNLU were the first runners up.

It sure was three days of excitement and fun, leaving behind a lot of memories. With Jagat Sohail and Akshay Raghupathy as the CA’s for this year’s NITR PD - 4, let us look forward to another enjoyable version of the memorable tournament.

Transcending to success

“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." 

                                                                                                ~ Napoleon Hill

With Innovision '14 nearing the horizon the above exemplary quote has stimulated almost every soul residing in the campus of NIT Rourkela. The NITians are devotedly bent on perfecting every single detail required and flawlessly sticking together those precise pieces on order to deliver the transcendent portrait of Innovision. Enormous amount of tasks pertaining to various fields like event organization, publicity, sponsorships so on and so forth needs to be efficiently finished before the main event starts. Even with the hectic class timings , the passionate students keenly complete every task allotted to them succeeding in leaving no stone unturned.

With Innovision knocking the pearly gates, the publicity team ensures that all the actively used social networking sites are filled with the news of Innovision. Outstanding videos produced are shared by all members of the team in order to notify the world outside of NITR about the arrival of the largest technical festival of the state. Stunning posters designed for Innovision are sent to various respectable institutes to lure the students for active participation. Through the marvelous website designed by the technical technical team, the interested ones can register themselves in the events beforehand.

The event organization and preparation is also a strenuous as well as mind blogging task. This includes building arenas in case of robotics and other technical events, collecting all the raw materials and establishing sites for fun filled events like treasure hunts, developing complex questions for quizzes and so on. Last year for star gazing events expensive telescopes were placed to unveil the mysteries of the universe to the interested ones. The adventurous parkour events like rope climbing as well as the fun filled ones like sumo wrestling filled the air with excitement and thrill.

Embellishing the whole institute comes under the charge of the decorating team who adorn every nook and corner in accordance with innovative themes. Graffiti pertaining to the trendy issues sprayed on the Student Activity Centre (SAC) walls serve as highlight of the festival. Also the 3D street painting is quite a contemporary idea to be implemented this year. The entire campus gets dazzled with decorative lights which eliminate any chance of fading of the festival.

So what are you waiting for?? With such laborious preparations, there lies no possibility of disappointment. 

Come on people! To make those three days unforgettable, be a part of Innovision '14…

Work(&)shop

{: For Knowledge :}

Are you passionate about wanting to know new things and creating new stuff? Then the annual workshops held in INNOVISION, NIT Rourkela are the right places for you. It is not wrong in itself to call them as “Brain spas” as they stimulate your brain and teach you to think in different ways which you never even thought were possible. They also act as excellent workouts for your grey cells. Just as in spas, you can retreat to a variety of workshops just to learn and do something interesting, which is quite exhilarating in the monotonous life of most of the students of this generation. Workshops give you plenty of refreshment by making you do something new and useful. They constitute a very productive way of spending one’s time.

Workshops ranging from “Creating Apps” to “Bio-reactor”, covering all fields of engineering are sure to expose you to new and improved technologies existing in this vast world of technology. Teams from all over India, and of course, our own NIT Technical Clubs, provide you with many options from which you can choose your passionate field and start gorging on the knowledge they provide you with.

Every workshop starts with the teaching of basic principles and continues to advanced level so that everyone has clear cut idea about what they are learning. Few workshops even go onto organizing competitions in what they have taught and the winners therein are awarded plentiful. The duration of a workshop ranges from 6 hours to 2 days (wherein 4 to 6 hours each day) and at the end of the day your effort is surely not going to be unnoticed. To make it more interactive and fun, students can also form groups and discuss their ideas, doubts, creations …….. ad infinitum.

Thence, attending workshops will be definitely a memorable experience and the knowledge you gain will come in hand at some or the other point of your life for sure. So, why wait! Get up and get going. Register yourself at any of the wonderful workshops you want to get into and watch the wonders of your brain!

 Innovate.Inspire.Ignite

Enjoyed in Unison - Miriada

In childhood, we learnt ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ After undertaking a course in engineering, we acknowledge the fact that Jack does not get time to play. Courtesy: Assignments by Profs, disillusioned net and attending classes. Well, it would be quite disheartening then if Innovision ‘14 does not provide a platform to all these Jack-turned-Geek to cherish the three days of their odd sems to the fullest. Presenting MIRIADA, Spanish for ‘myriad’, which is the umbrella of all the fun events to be hosted in our techno-management festival of NIT Rourkela.

Fun, frolic, Masti and Mazaa, when added with an assortment of science, enrich its essence with ‘INNO’vative and erudite ideas. Did you know that the popular game show Khulja Sim Sim was based on the principles of probability known as The Monty-Hall problem? Or that you could shoot arrows in the open and zorb in the pool just through proper hand positions? Every day we are driven by the force of Science which can neither be created nor destroyed. For those of you who still think this piece of write-up is a gobbledygook, watch Science of Stupid every night on National Geographic. You will surely like the ways they boggle your mind!

Coming back to Innovision; fillers are organized of, for and by the people for those who have slogged their grey cells in workshops or are still dismayed on their performance in an event. The outdoor events include slow cycle race, Shoot-the-dude, rappelling etc. Stalls are also put up at varied locations with games such as Tower of Hanoi, Brainvita and Whack-a-Mole. Not to forget that all these events have a tinge of Science in some or the other way. To sum up, the events are worth it to come out of one’s own world and join us with joys galore. Stay calm, get rid of your trepidations and enjoy.

"16 days left for Miriada, 16 days left for Grand-masti!!!"

Behind the Pearly Gates...

While Innovision is a spectacular fest held every year by NIT Rourkela, ever wondered about how students get to be part of this mind blowing event?

The preparations start by the 3^rd week of August with posters being put throughout the campus asking interested students to assemble in the SAC (student activity centre) on a specified date and time. On the day of inductions interested candidates are tested on their technical skills, contributions to the previously conducted Innovision and general knowledge on the SACs functioning.

One of the most frequently asked questions is to find faults in the previous year’s Innovision and to suggest new ideas for the next one. This is a crucial step in developing new ideas and implementing them. Based on their response and interests, students are put into one of the teams below:

Transportation: They ensure hassle free transport for dignitaries, performers and important guests both inside and outside the campus.

Publicity: These guys publicize the event ensuring maximum participation from colleges throughout India. They also relay any exciting developments, news and trivia.

Decoration: Ensuring the campus is full of colour and pumped with vigour during the fest is one of the primary responsibilities of the decoration team.

Content creation: Responsible for the post you are currently reading along with other things.

Sponsorship: Quite obvious…

Event management: They bridge the gap between the SAC and clubs by responding to the needs of various clubs, allotting time slots and locations to conduct events.

Hospitality: Help desk, taking care of and making arrangements for participants from other colleges.

The inducted candidates work as coordinators in the above mentioned teams. Each team works rigorously to ensure that Innovision ’14 can be conducted without any hassles or red faces.

Volunteers are also inducted by coordinators to help them accomplish their respective tasks. 

A hierarchical representation of the SAC:

(Yeah, I partially hand-drew it)

Next time when you see one from our team, do recall that ya'll be greeted warmly!!

Sneak Peek into Innovision '14

"Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation"

                                                                                                                                    -Robert H. Sculler

Ever pondered on the question of how such marvelous event like Innovision is conducted? What amount of Herculean effort is a pre-requisite to establish the biggest technical festival of the state? About the incessant meetings of the organizing team for a smoother completion of the festival? Here is an insight into the insides of Innovision.

Straight away from the beginning of the academic session, the groundwork for the upcoming Innovision is laid by the existing members of ‘The team, Innovision NIT Rourkela’. Then on new members from the subsequent batches are inducted into the various sub fields namely the Organizing team, Technical team, Content team, Creative team so on and so forth after a series of grounding rounds. The phenomenal website is designed ardently by the ingenious architects of the Creative team followed by flawless execution of the same by the Technical team. Polished gist and recurrently updated write ups by the Content team precisely fill up the outstanding website and blogs. The publicity team then takes up the challenge to spread about the details of Innovision flooding the social networking sites with imaginative videos of the fest for reaching out to every other emerging engineer. 

The renowned clubs of NIT Rourkela are thereafter bestowed on with the responsibility planning and organizing the stimulating events from all disciplines. Problem statements, event details, rules and regulations, judging criteria, eligibility and other specifications along with a striking name to lure the crowd are formulated after extensive discussions among the team members. The detailed draft comprising the above particulars is then proposed to the Innovision team for approval. Following a thorough study of the given event, it is subsequently added to the ‘list of events’ to be conducted during the technical festival. Once the approval is received, the club members set out to hunt for sponsorships from various organizations required for unblemished preparation of the event as well as for captivating prizes for the techno maniacs. With adequate sponsorships, club members ultimately submit the write up on gifts and prizes to be received by the capable champions.

With refined management skills of the Innovision team, the above procedures are smoothly completed before a month of Innovision. Hence comes the time for wrapping up every single detail into a splendid success. Details on ‘the frenetic month’ to be covered in the next article. Stay tuned to grasp the climax!

Come on people! It's Innovision '14!!

With the euphoria of ‘Pujo’ leisurely fading away, the NITR junta is keenly engaged in molding the door knocking Innovision ‘14 into a top-notch. This technical festival stretching over for two and a half thrilling days lures the techno-maniacs emerging from the whole nation into a compelling platform for portraying their prowess. Wrapping up the events from all domains beginning with the exhilarating technical bouts to the amusing fun filled ventures and a hypnotizing cultural night for the student mass to sway away in the rhythms just for a perfect ending has truly delivered to make Innovision one of its kind.

Commencing with a mesmerizing inaugural night crammed with oration of eminent personalities glorified by the dignified cultural performances, Innovision indisputably brings out the best of every soul residing in the campus of NITR. The entire institute is adorned creating a breath taking view for the entire crowd over-whelmed with the festive mood. The incessant song dedications fill the air with mirth letting the amusement magnify in folds. The technical events from various fields such as robotics, automobile building, coding competitions so on and so forth organized by renowned clubs allures the intellectual s both from institute and outside into demanding challenges. The once in a blue moon opportunities like star gazing ,the heart-throbbing parkour along with the adventurous treasure hunts  is surely a dare for the brave hearts to prove their courage. Quizzes and games on general knowledge and commerce along with mind boggling puzzles and riddles are highly entertaining for the crowd. The exhibitions of exceptional technical creations ranging from matchless racing cars to the robo-wars from the entire NITR community adds to the zest lingering in the atmosphere. Even the workshops conducted on recent technologies as well as classic activities of clay art and palmistry is rather an informative experience for the participants. Adding to the enlightening experiences are the inspirational lectures by the prominent ones sharing their secrets of success.

Being a magnificent event, Innovision is the biggest technical festival of the entire state. These delusional two and a half days wrapped up with a complete package willingly quench the thirst of every participating engineer. Innovision, a much needed experience, also endows the ones emerging victorious with potential certificates and luxurious prizes in both cash and kind. It’s high time you jot down Oct 31, Nov 1 and 2 in your diaries people ‘coz NITR is here waiting for you!