iBlog: Nishit Shah

Dream On ….Dream On ….Dream On…
Dream until your dreams come true..

Dream On this is what Aerosmith had said way back in his 1973 ballad and the same was the theme of this year’s TechFest @ IIT Bombay. There is something about this event that draws me towards it year after year. I have been religiously attending techfest since 2002 every year (skipped it last year as I was not in town) and will continue to do so year after year. One thing that I like about IIT’s Techfest is that it has kept improving its standard and the variety and level of competitions, every year there are new set of innovative challenges to overcome. Since only college students with a valid ID card can take part in these events, I have become a mere spectator now ! Since I had weekend off, I took leave from work on Friday, 25th Jan, so that I can be a part of this for all the 3 days and believe me its worth it! The most interesting events were: Micromouse (an autonomous self contained machine designed to get to the centre of a maze in shortest possible time) Vertigo ( a manually controlled machine which picks up blocks from the ground and places them on a platform and an autonomous machine which collects those blocks and dumps them in a pit, within a stipulated period of time) Prison Break (a wired remote controlled machine which comes out of a pit of depth 45cm, survives a fall of 45cm to escape The Prison) SolEx (an apparatus which uses only solar energy to heat flowing air and flow water to certain specifications)

As the sun sets on another glorious day at Techfest, lights come on in the Open Air Theatre [OAT]setting the stage for an awe inspiring sight. One which promises to blow your mind away; in other words “Technoholix: Techfest @ Dark”. I was present for all the 3days for the Technoholix event and believe me its worth standing 3 hours in the never ending Queue to get into the OAT for this. This year’s highlights were Lumen (A high energy techno juggling show with 3D projections from Switzerland.) I was totally blown away with the installed lasers, and the colourful optic fibres’ pulsating light change in tune with the fast paced music. I had never seen anything like this before in my life ! Pyromania (A dance and acrobatic show with pyrotechnics and fiber optics from Israel) The performers used laser like dance sequences, using fire-spinning, light and laser effect to produce a spell-binding show. With the Pyromania team especially flown in from Israel, the event was too good. Laser Floyd (A laser show on Pink Floyd’s music) This was the LARGEST laser show in India, simply in terms of the number of lasers used. The scintillating sights and sounds produced were absolutely beyond this world! Featuring digitally re-mastered sound and breathtaking visual laser effects. The best part was the crowd at the OAT. We usually had to wait for an hour for the event to start and the wait was really killing and the junta @ IIT always finds innovative ways to keep themselves entertained. I was a part of most amazing Mexican wave, almost everyone from the 10000 odd people in the OAT had their cell fones switched on and were waving in complete dark. This scene was too good. Check this at this Tech2.0 Video to get an idea of what I am talking of. Hats off to the folks at IIT for their efforts. C ya next year !