A two-member team of Samarth Jain and Harshit Kumar Prabhakar — both class XI (science) students of the BGS National Public School, Bangalore — was awarded second rank in Season 14 of the Technothlon International School Championship 2017, staged in Guwahati between September 1-3.
This annual competition — open to two-member teams of secondary (junior squad) and higher secondary (haut squad) students with the objective of encouraging young techies to solve tough challenges — organised by IIT-Guwahati, attracted participation of 120,000 students from over 300 cities countrywide, as also from Dubai and Singapore.
The annual Technothlon is spread over two rounds. In the preliminary round, all entrants write an examination in designated centres across the country every July. The top 50 teams from each squad are eligible to compete in the Mains round, a series of rigorous tests conducted at the IIT-Guwahati campus during Techniche, the annual techno-management festival of IIT-G held in the first week of September.
“We owe our deepest gratitude to our teachers at the Allen Career Institute who introduced us to the competition and our parents. Given the high level of difficulty in the preliminary and main rounds, we were pleasantly surprised to be placed among the Top 3 all-India,” enthuses Samarth.
Among the diverse tests all participants were required to compete in were Quantum Escape, Chess, Mechawalk (robotics) and A Little Bid (finance). “The Technothlon concept is truly admirable as it is linked with real-world challenges such as limited resources of time and material, and understanding the importance of finance. I believe the key to winning the Technothlon is to unlearn and adapt to any situation,” says Harshit.
The duo plan to compete in more national and international competitions before signing up for undergrad degree programmes. “I wish to design and develop space satellites,” says Samarth. Harshit on the other hand, is intent on studying medicine and qualifying as a cardiac surgeon.
Wind in your sails!
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)