A TEAM OF THREE aeronautical engineering students of ACS College of Engineering, Bangalore — Tabrez Nadvi Anser (21), Pawan MJ (21) and Vignesh Arul (20) — were declared winners of the inaugural Boeing National Aero-modelling competition staged in Delhi on April 12. Over 170 teams nationwide competed for the winner’s trophy and prize money purse of Rs.1 lakh.
A first-of-its-kind joint initiative of India’s celebrated IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and the Chicago-based civil aviation giant Boeing Corp, the two-phase aero modelling competition was conducted to stimulate the interest of undergrad engineering students in the aerospace industry. All participating teams were obliged to build and demo radio-controlled (RC) aircraft which were assessed on the basis of their design, climbing, gliding and manoeuvrability capabilities.
“After our model was shortlisted by IIT-Kharagpur on the basis of the blueprint, images and video clips, with financial assistance from the ACS College management, we designed and built a three-dimensional RC aircraft of balsa wood and depron foam. In the zonals held at IIT-Kgp on February 2, our model was ranked #3 which qualified us for the finals in Delhi, where it was adjudged the best on the basis of its fantastic manoeuvrability. To improve our model aircraft for the finals, all of us worked in close cooperation and learned valuable lessons in teamwork. Beating the IITs on their own turf has given us a tremendous high,” enthuses Arul.
An occasional flyer of radio-controlled aircraft at Hoskote in suburban Bangalore, like his colleagues, Anser is elated but a trifle disappointed with the award. “I would have preferred an opportunity to work with Boeing rather than a cash award because we’ve started to design, build and fly a single-seater ultra-light aircraft. A stint at Boeing would have certainly helped!” he says.
Nevertheless, there’s little doubt this team of young engineers is set to fly high.
Garima Upadhyay (Delhi)
Anagha Sethuraman
Chennai-based Anagha Sethuraman (13) is the season VI National Classmate Spell Bee 2014 champion, following her victory in the final round of the all-India competition staged in Mumbai on March 8-9. After rigorous elimination rounds at the city and state levels, this teen bested 250,000 students from 750 schools in 27 cities to bag a cash award of Rs.2 lakh, and an all-expenses paid trip to witness the Scripps National Spelling Bee held in Washington DC, on May 29. The Classmate Spell Bee National English language spelling competition (estb. 2009) is an initiative of the Kolkata-based tobacco, hotels and agri-products behemoth ITC Ltd and Radio Mirchi, a network of 32 FM radio stations, based in Indore.
The only child of engineer V. Sethuraman and banker mother Sujata, Anagha is thrilled with her success after two failed attempts. “I am delighted that my hard work to expand my vocabulary and learn spelling has paid off. I am really grateful to my parents and school for constantly encouraging me,” says this gritty class IX student of the CBSE-affiliated Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Chennai.
Anagha’s interest in learning hard-to-spell words and their etymology dates back to 2007, when she registered for the Marrs International Spelling Bee organised by Cochin-based MaRRs Intellectual Services (P) Ltd at age six, and qualified as a national runner-up in the junior category. In 2011, Anagha bagged the Chennai city crown of the Spartan Spelling Bee organised by Chennai-based Spartan Educational Events and Services. Subsequently she was a national finalist of the HDFC Life Spell Bee (now changed to Classmate Spell Bee) in the 2012 and 2013 editions, prior to winning the national championship this year.
A multi-dimensional youngster, Anagha also plays tennis and listens to music. Moreover, she loves maths and has a flair for writing. “I spend a good amount of time solving math problems from reference books and IIT entrance exam guides. I am also writing my first book,” she says.
Looking ahead, Anagha has set her mind on the IITs. “My current obsession is to prepare for IIT-JEE. I want to become a successful entrepreneur and contribute to Indian society,” says this plucky go-getter.
Go girl!
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)