Akshay Shetye, Ex-Joint General Secreatary of Technovanza!

And a pithy one from the GS of Technovanza held in the Common Era 2011, Akshay Shetye. His experiences have much historical insight to delve into.

Flashback…

A Rubik’s cube portrait of Mr Ratan Tata reminded me of Technovanza’s first ever mall event at High Street Phoenix in 2011. Kudos team! It was only apt to portray the great man days before he steps down as the chairman of India’s biggest conglomerate. The Techno 2010 team started this tradition of mall events. It was during our year that we got an opportunity to take Techno to two of the biggest malls in the city and I was really glad to see the tradition continue. It shows how we as a Techno family evolve year after year and not just that, we keep these relations strong. The value that we create every year is what builds this trust amongst our sponsors, media and event partners.

Many Firsts to Its Credit

Techno 2011 was when Technovanza was first made a Techno Management Festival, thus adding an entirely new dimension to the event. A dedicated team for Pratigya was created in 2011. Pratigya started visiting schools outside Mumbai and our motto of Taking Technology to the Society was taken to a new level. Today, looking at the pictures which are put up frequently by the Pratigya team, I feel immensely proud of being a part of the team. Initiatives like Maitri got inter collegiate expertise to work on technical projects. A special thanks to VJTI SRA for providing the technical expertise which could be exhibited in the form of some never seen before live projects. In fact, it was the very first time that all these projects were taken to the VJTI labs after Technovanza.  A couple of projects were converted to marketable products. The number of Manageria events during Techno 2011 organised by the E-cell were the largest in number than any of the yester year events. We also had a start up from the participant who won the B-plan competition.  After the success of Nivritti in 2010, we had an education conference ‘Rachna’. Renowned educationalists in the social and political field were a part of the conference. We had a plethora of night events and ‘Prayaag’ to end the three day extravaganza.

And behind the curtains!

However, it is the preparation and planning that goes into making this three day event possible is what makes this event special. The last 15-20 days were the best days in my four years at college. The excitement of being able to set an appointment with a prospective sponsor, the dejection which accompanies at times, the crowd which assembles near the hub during the publicity rounds (even if that is for bunking lectures), the mad rush to get hold of the Techno calling SIM card, the sincerity with which FEs listen to the SEs, the night-outs in the hub, in the SRA or in the quadrangle, running behind professors, cheese tawa pulao at [Relax], the arguments with your teammates, the last minute change of plans, bunking lectures  and I can go on and on this way. But if you ask me what first comes to my mind when someone asks me about Techno, it is the people. Just like VJTI, where excellence is passed on from one batch to another, Techno teams have built a culture of excellence which is passed from one batch to another and this is what makes Technovanza stand out.
When I first came to VJTI in 2008, I had never thought I would be a part of the teams which have made it TECHNOVANZA.
“Winners don’t always do different things, they do things differently”
Go Techno! Keep on making it Bigger and Better!

-Akshay Shetye
Joint General Secreatary
Technovanza 2011

Editing by
Samyak Shamkuwar
for the Blog, Media Cell
Technovanza 2013

Talk with Nishant Rao,Ex-GS of Technovanza.

Who else can put things in a perspective better than the ‘giants of our times’? Okay, literalism aside...
My boss, Harshali from the Media team got the ‘golden’, ‘gilded’ and ‘precious’ (you get it right? Senior flattery!) words of past General Secretaries of Technovanza.
Here’s is Nishant Rao, of Techno ’12 pouring his heart out.

The Blueprint…

When we started working for Technovanza’ 12, one question that we asked ourselves was, “How did we want this Techno to be remembered?” And after a number of discussions we narrowed it down to three answers. This would be the Techno that encouraged everyone to satisfy their curiosity and create something, had something for people of all ages and of course became bigger!
The first answer was one of the main reasons why the theme for Technovanza 2012 was “Curiosity to Creation”. We wanted Technovanza to be the platform where students could put their knowledge to use and create projects that could participate in our events that were spread across six different categories. Over 40 exhibits showcasing cutting edge technology and the Curiosity Tent which gave an opportunity for first year students to explain fascinating phenomena meant that every visitor had an enriching experience. The conference on E-commerce was meant to educate people on what is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

Responsible Initiatives

Inspired by our motto of Taking Technology to the Society, our social initiative Pratigya reached new heights with the scope being extended to municipal schools, NGO’s and villages on the outskirts of Maharashtra along with private schools in Mumbai. For the first time, over 1000 school children visited Technovanza and there was also a competition exclusively for them thus leading to a bit of inter-school rivalry in VJTI! The vintage car exhibition on the VJTI grounds had even the most technophobic people making a beeline to enter the college gates. Thus we truly succeeded in attracting people of ages to VJTI during the 3 days of Technovanza.

Around the World in 3 days of February!

I truly believe that we succeeded in making Technovanza bigger than ever before. Over 3000 participating teams and over 35 media articles about Technovanza is a testament to that fact. The portrait of the Taj Mahal using over 4500 Rubik’s cubes, a national record, was a herculean task by our team of Rubik’s cube enthusiasts and it even earned us coverage in international press. The entertaining night events, rounded off by the live performance by singer-performer Benny Dayal ensured that the fun at Techno wasn’t just restricted to the day.

Citius Altius Fortius…

More than the 3 days of Techno itself, what I will carry with me out of VJTI are the varied experiences from working over the many months leading up to the festival. I have had the privilege of working with the most amazing group of people without whom it would have been impossible to execute arguably the most successful Techno ever. I believe it is our enthusiasm and team-work that helped us overcome many testing situations. I will always be grateful to Techno for it has helped me form friendships with my team members that I will cherish forever.

Tingling Nostalgia

The successful 3 days of Techno not only filled me with a great sense of satisfaction but also left me with a tinge of sadness on realization that never again would I attend a techno meeting, contact a sponsor or get a 1000 mosquito bites from sitting in the garden(Ok maybe I won’t miss the last one so much). I can safely say that working for Techno has been the best part of my college life. In conclusion I would like to wish my juniors the vey best in carrying the torch forward and making Technovanza bigger and better each year. Go Techno!
-In the words of Nishant Rao
GS Techno ‘12
With editing from
Samyak Shamkuwar
SY IT

Shashank Sabesan,Ex-COO of Technovanza.

In the past few weeks, I have been seeing posters about the great work Team Techno is doing through Pratigya, the fantastic cube arts and today the one about Ratan Tata attending the event this year. It feels really proud to have been involved with Technovanza and seeing the legacy grow over the past few years. I remember all those night outs spent brainstorming over every single detail for Techno 2010 like they happened yesterday. "Taking technology to the society" is an idea which struck us during one such session and it truly stands for what we have been trying to achieve via Technovanza. For instance, I had been to my school as part of Pratigya to conduct a workshop and I remember some of the students came over to the actual event and they were really excited to see the exhibits and robotic events. Pratigya has definitely ignited some young minds.
I also particularly remember the lecture by Nobel laureate Dr. John Mather on the "Big Bang Theory" and "Life at the end of the Universe" over video conference. This lecture was at 8 in the morning and I have never seen the auditorium so full and the audience so enthusiastic. The "How Stuff Works" was also a simple but impactful exhibition as visitors could easily connect with the technology they encounter commonly. And driven completely by first year students, this served as a great platform to get more students involved. The Rubik's Cube Mumbai Open saw its first edition, the malls witnessed all the awesome cube art, Nivritti-the conference on sustainability generated some brilliant ideas on green campuses, Taramandal saw huge queues of visitors - I could probably go on and on about every event and exhibit, but I would not want to rob you of a first hand experience. Be there on the 6th, 7th and 8th of Jan and I promise you the "Techno experience" will not disappoint!

By Shashank Sabesan,Ex-COO of Technovanza.

Pratigya

Engineering in India is probably never so much about this one ingredient called ‘jugaad’ as much as it is about precious-than-life journals, end-of-the-world submissions and decapitate-ous[RIP English!] exams.
Techno to the rescue. For those much acquainted about, you must have noted the sheer numbers of the 12-15 age group students paying a visit to Technovanza. Fun-faring aside, isn’t it true many of us can be identified with those very gleaming sharp eyes, desperate to have a first-hand try  on ICs that actually work, gears that actually move and buzzers that actually beep…

Group picture of volunteers in one of the lectures, the smiles tell it all...

Over and out. Some of u have actually had contexts in which some genteel ‘bhaiyya’ or ‘didi’ (my childhood mandated that I call any senior bhaiyya/dada and didi/tai!) had introduced the spark of science and the grit of technology in you.

And now, in the repayment mode, here’s Techno to the rescue.
There may or may not be an awesome reason behind the name ‘Pratigya’ apart from the fact that it is a heavy sounding Hindi word! :P
Pratigya denotes the resolve, to bring the beacon of technology to those who shall be its bearers tomorrow. Through it, Techno is fulfilling what is called the ‘loan to the society'.

Because the primary aim of Pratigya is to ignite curiosity in young minds, rather than mesmerise them with über-cool gizmos. Pratigya volunteers themselves make elementary robots which serve as the primary hands-on tools for students.

Interactive presentations or movies, make the affair much fun for the children. (And much chagrin for the incumbent! Adios Ajinkya Walimbe!)

Now some behind the scene schema-team Pratigya is no less than a VIP at places they go. Because schools selected are primarily the not-so-élite public or NGO funded schools. Pratigya works in collabaoration with NGOs under whose aegis the schools work or closely function. Over the years Pratigya has evolved into a much focussed mission, and the members are aware of the social responsibility they bear.

 And the VJTI tag surely entitle them to much red-carpet! Volunteers work under privileges of teachers.

And what’s in store for you? Well you mean apart from the great sense of doing something for the society?

Ajinkya Walimbe puts is the best way.
“In one particular excursion, when we were explaining the concept of electronic garage, we ventured to ask them as to how the problem of parking could be solved. We had some preconditioned responses that we anticipated. To our surprise, the 6^th standarder actually tells us ways like underground parking and using public transport…”

Surprised?

Considering that conditions in many of the schools, though conducive, are not luxurious. One particular school taught students through 1 to 10 in 3 classrooms…but at the same time, they were endowed with a projector. India is a great nation indeed….

I would like to know, just how many of you would join hands with this fraternity next year. Indeed if Techno is about bringing technology to masses, Pratigya is its foremeost flag-bearer

Go Techno…

Samyak Shamkuwar

SY IT