CET’s ‘Drishti’ revival edition to focus on frugal innovation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The students of College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram are looking back for something new and meaningful. Leaving behind the meaningless entertainment events they have hosted, the students have decided to revive ‘Drishti’, the CET’s techno-management fest which was held for the first and only time in 2003. This year, the fest which focuses on frugal innovation, will be held from Sept 14 to 16. “Students had made up their mind to organise Drishti at the beginning of the academic year. We are a technical college but we were focused on hosting cultural festivals. Now, we feel that it is time to break out of the mould and exhibit our talent not just in arts but also in the sciences,” said S Vivek Menon, member of the organizing committee of Drishti.The students chose frugal innovation as the theme because they were inspired by certain innovations that have been widely accepted by economically backward social groups such as prosthetic limbs from discarded PVC pipes and water bottle light bulb.“We want to bring out similar innovations from our students to let them show the world how scrap can be converted to useful material at a greater scale and at a lesser price,” Menon said. The college has also requested the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Thiruvananthapuram chapter), ISRO and the DRDO to participate. However, exhibition of projects based on frugal innovation will only be one of the aspects of the techno fest. Seminars, meeting with the CEOs of Technopark and inter-college competitions too will part of the fest. Each department will get to organize exhibitions and conduct programmes to benefit students of the respective subjects. “School students from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi will also be invited for the young engineers’ contest where they will get to present their innovative ideas for the future. The best ideas will win a certificate signed by APJ Abdul Kalam,” added Menon.