Kshitij: Information from Answers.com

Kshitij

Type of Organisation	Student Run Non Profit Organisation
Founded	2004
Place	Kharagpur, India
Institute	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Major events	The Senate, Kryotech, Laws of Motion, B Plan, Open Soft, El Dorado, Overnite, Eureka Robotix
Prize Money	45 lakh rupees, 95,000$
Guests	Mr. Philip Emeagwali, Prof. Kurt Wuthrich, Wg. Cmdr. Rakesh Sharma, Mr. Prahlad Kakkar, Prof. Paul Crutzen, Prof. Kevin Warwick, Prof. Richard Stallman, Prof. Klaus_von_Klitzing, Dr. K Kasturirangan, Mr. Alyque Padamsee, Mr. Eric Larsen
Website	www.ktj.in

Kshitij is the annual techno-management fest of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur,India. Kshitij started off in 2004 with an aim of promoting technology and entrepreneurship in India, and in 5 years, it has grown to become the Asia’s largest techno-management fest. The previous edition of Kshitij i.e. Kshitij 2009 witnessed a participation of more than 30,000 students coming from various disciplines like engineering, management, law and sciences from all over the country as well as abroad. The events organised in Kshitij belong to various genres like coding, quizzing, debating, robotics and marketing. Apart from the events, Kshitij has taken the initiative to reach out to the students of rural India, giving a new direction and orientation to their learning.

Kshitij 2010 is going to be held from 28th-31st January 2010.

1 History and Growth
2 Previous Editions
3 Events
4 Certifications
5 Guest Lectures
6 Workshops
- 6.1 Internal Workshops
- 6.2 External Workshops
7 Megashows
8 Exhibitions
9 Initiatives of Kshitij
10 References

History and Growth

Kshitij was conceived in the year 2004 with a vision to provide a platform for the budding engineers and entrepreneurs of India, to showcase their talents in their respective fields, and to provide India with novel, ground-breaking technologies. An austere vision from the brightest of minds of the world has given technology and entrepreneurship a whole new dimension. With a moderate start of 500 outstation participants in its very first edition, Kshitij has grown exponentially over the past 5 years. The total number of outstation participants for the 2009 edition exceeded 5000 and the total prize money also increased proportionately. Adding new events every year, Kshitij now presents a variety of events catering to every aspect of engineering and management. Starting initially with about 10 events Kshitij now organises more than 45 events.

Previous Editions

Kshitij 2009

Kshitij 2009 was a landmark edition of Kshitij when many of the events received certifications from various internationally recognized institutions like ASME, ASHRAE, ACM and IMechE. In this edition, Kshitij saw a tremendous growth with over 11000 participants which for the first time included more than 5000 outstation participants. Prizes worth Rs 45 lacs were doled out and the B-plan incubation was an astonishing 25 lacs. The guests included ‘ad hatter’ Prahlad Kakkar, Philip Emeagwali - the father of internet, noble laureate Prof. Kurt Wuthrich,Prof Chandra Lalwani, Chandrayaan pioneer S.K. Shivkumar, Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe, BBC Film-maker Jeremy Bristow and NASA scientist Christopher McKay.

Kshitij 2008

In 2008, the fest had a participation of about 7000 and prize money worth Rs 35 lacs. This edition saw the inclusion of events like Anadigix and Forex. There was participation of masters of all possible fields. This included guests like “The Father of Nanotechnology” Prof. K. Eric Drexler, world-renowned Astrophysicist Prof. Lawrence M. Krauss, the Founder of Wikipedia Mr. Jimmy D. Wales, famous Environmental Lawyer Mr. Mahesh Chandra Mehta, Intel Country Manager Mr. Ramamurthy Sivakumar, Google Product Manager Mr. Surojeet Chatterjee and eminent Car designer Mr. Dilip Chhabria.

Kshitij 2007

Kshitij 2007 witnessed a participation of over 6500 participants from over 200 colleges, in its 34 technical and managerial events, 10 guest lectures and 5 workshops, with prizes worth Rs.25 lacs. The campus was decorated into the flavours of ancient Egypt symbolizing the zenith of technology and wisdom. Noble laureates like Prof. Harold Kroto, Prof. Paul J. Crutzen and Prof. Lee Hartwell shared their passion for science. Ad-man Alyque Padamsee, Wing Cmdr. Rakesh Sharma, Richard Stallman, Subir Raha, Ramon Magsaysay winner Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, Padamshree Dr. K Kasturirangan, and many such connoisseurs of their respective fields have contributed inestimably.

Kshitij 2006

In 2006 edition there was an outstation participation of over 2000 students, and prizes worth Rs 15 lacs. The cream of the country turned up at Kharagpur, to exchange their thoughts with stalwarts such as German Nobel Laureate Professor Klaus von Klitzing, Prof. Jacky Baltes of University of Manitoba, India’s principal scientific advisor Dr. R.Chidambaram, Warwick Manufacturing Group's director Lord Sushantha Kr. Bhattacharya and witness management gurus such as R. Gopalakrishnan, R.N. Mukhija, Arun Khaitana and Amit Chatterjee deliver inspiring lectures.

Kshitij 2005

Only in one year the outstation participation increased to five folds and the budget increased to such an extent the prize money in 2005 was more than the previous year’s entire budget,clearly indicating that the fest had made its mark! The fest held during Feb. 4-6 saw eminent guest like Mr. Richard Matthew Stallman, the creator of GNU and the founder of Free Software Foundation, Mr.B.K.Syngal, man who brought internet to India and Mr. Subir Raha, CMD, ONGC.

Kshitij 2004

Kshitij implying the horizon was born in 2004 as an attempt by the IIT Kharagpur students to look beyond and to encourage technology and management. It saw a modest start with about 500 participants.

Events

Being a techno-management fest, Kshitij has events pertaining to both technical and management fields. Kshitij has a total of more than 45 events belonging to various genres and the prize money for these events summed up to more than 45 lacs in Kshitij 2009.

The events are divided into various categories:

Genesis: These are primarily online events held prior to the festival. These events start from October end and continue till the beginning of the festival. They include:
- Cryptex : An event on Cryptology
- Hacked : Ethical Hacking and Network Security Competition
- C up Your Skills : C Programming Event
- Mind Sport : An Event on Brain Teasers and Puzzles
- Woodstock : Virtual Share Market
- Relic Hunter : Online Treasure Hunt
- Excalibur : Online Biz-Quiz
- Forex : Virtual Foreign Exchange
- Analyst : Analysis of different Financial Market Strategies
- Math Challenge : A test of Maths Aptitude

Quizzard: This is the set of three brain-tickling quizzes to test the quizzing mettle of the students in every technical and business aspect. These quizzes are:
- Biz Quiz : The Business Quiz
- India Inc. : Biz Quiz on India’s glorious past
- Tech Quiz : The Technical Quiz

Past quiz masters include Joy Bhattacharya, Arul Mani, Avinash Mudaliar and Giri 'Pickbrain' Balasubramanium.

Strategia: Strategia comprises of the major management events of Kshitij. These events aim at testing the skills of survival and strategic planning in the dynamically changing and highly competitive market. The Events in this category are:
- El Dorado : City Planning Event
- Exemplar : Dynamic Case Study of marketing a product
- The Senate : Mock Parliamentary Debate
- Marca de Fabrica : The Branding Event
- Zero Hour : Interactive Case Study

Conceptualize: This section of Kshitij provides a platform for the innovative ideas to blossom and to be showcased in front of the world. This idea can be a new software, a research paper, a hardware designed or even a business plan. The events include:
- Open Soft : Open ended, open source software designing competition
- Open Hardware : Open ended hardware model designing
- Java-Wise : Mobile or PDA Application designing event
- Eureka : The Technical Paper Presentation
- Speak Out For Engineering : Debate on Engineering certified by Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- B-Plan : The Business Plan Competition

Robotix: Robotix provides new problem statements every year in the field of Robotics. These include events from inter-disciplinary branches like Mechanical Robotics, Autonomous Robotics and Programming. Robotix is one of the most successful robotics competitions held in India. The events under Robotix in Kshitij 2010 are:
- ASME Student Design Competition : Autonomous Waste Sorter Robot making competition certified by ASME
- Xants : Coding a number of robots to make them interact with each other
- 8MileX : Designing an autonomous robot which obeys traffic rules
- eXplore : Designing a robot which can move in water
- Xplode : An event on establishing communication between autonomous and manual robots
- TribotX Championship : Dynamic Robotics with different problem statement everyday
- Xtension : An event on Coordination between autonomous and manual robot

Ab Initio: Ab Initio tests the participants on their creativity and their ability to apply basic knowledge of mechanics in day to day life. These events include making mechanical or architectural models right from scratch. The three events under this category are:
- Laws of Motion : Remote Controlled self propelled glider making event
- Nirmaan : Resource and time-optimized structure designing
- Nightshift : Nightlong Junkyard Wars of Kshitij

All these events are certified by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Theories 'n Core: Theories ‘n’ Core encourages the participant to revert to the theories and fundamentals to figure out the solutions to some real interesting problems. The events in this category include:
- Kryotech- ASHRAE - India Student Design Competition : HVAC system designing event certified by ASHRAE
- Anadigix : Analog and Digital Circuit designing
- EmbeTronix : Automated car parking system designing using digital wireless communication
- Overnite-ACM ICPC Multi-provincial programming contest : Nightlong coding competition certified by ACM

Industrial Design Problems: As the name suggests, the problem statements for these events are the real problems faced by the industry and the submissions for these events are solutions to these problems which can be implemented in the industry. This year’s Industrial Design Problems are:
- Petrocrat : Increasing the efficiency of Naphthalene Splitter Unit(NSU) in fractional distillation of petroleum
- Zephyr : Designing a house hold wind turbine
- Energia : Designing a robust residential electric meter

Techn 4 Fun: These events held during Kshitij show that technology can be fun as well. Tech 4 Fun includes events like
- X Games : The Campus Gaming event
- Snappit : An event on capturing the best moments of Kshtij
- Techquila : Series of fun events

Certifications

Many of the events in Kshitij 2010 have got certifications from various reputed organisations and institutions. These are :

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): ACM, the world’s largest and oldest scientific and educational computing society which develops resources that advance computing as a science and profession, certifies Overnite ACM ICPC Multi Provincial Programming Contest. The society serves as a membership of computing professionals and students in many countries in all areas of industry, academia, and government thus uniting the world's computer educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue and address the field's challenges.
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): ASHRAE , also considered to be the world governing body of thermodynamics certifies Kryotech, an event to design the complete HVAC(Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system for the industry.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): ASME, a professional body known for setting codes and standards for mechanical devices, certifies the Kshitij event ASME Student Design Competition. Through this event, ASME provides a platform for budding technocrats to touch the horizons in the field of robotic design and intelligent automation.
Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) : The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) which is the fastest growing professional engineering institution in the UK, certifies the events Laws of Motion, Nightshift, Nirmaan and Speak Out For Engineering. The association of IMechE with these events aims at improving the world through engineering and nurturing new talents, helping them build their careers and take on the challenges that, when solved, will make a difference to all.

Guest Lectures

Since its inception in 2004, Kshitij conducts a series of GUEST LECTURES by various eminent personalities. Many world recognized scientists, technologists and businessmen have come to Kharagpur to share their experiences, their in-depth knowledge on various subjects and the secret of their successful journey of life with the students. The GUEST LECTURES at Kshitij have been mesmerizing and influenced the thinking of many students. The Guest Lectures in the previous editions of Kshitij include lectures by :

Paul J. Crutzen (Winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry,1985)
Prof. Ken Perlin (Academy Award Winner)
Prof. Kurt Wuthrich (Winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
Prof. Philip Emeagwali(Father of Internet)
Prof. Richard Stallman (Founder of GNU Linux)
Prof. Roger Kornberg (Winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2006)
Wg. Cmdr. Rakesh Sharma (India’s First Cosmonaut)
Mr. Prahlad Kakkar(Ad-Guru)
Mr. Dilip Chhabria (Automobile Designer)
Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe (Director, Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology)

Workshops

In keeping with its principal aim of fostering the spirit of techno-managerial education, a number of workshops are organised in Kshitij, both during the festival and prior to the festival.

Internal Workshops

Workshops on a wide variety of topics are held during Kshitj. These workshops are presented by the experts in their fields and they provide the participants a unique opportunity to gain a thorough insight and hands- on experience in the specialized fields. Some of the workshops in the previous editions include workshops on:

Film Making
Forensic Sciences
Rocketry
Microfinance
I-Sputnik
Cyber Laws

External Workshops

The Kshitij Team organises a series of external workshops in various cities prior to the festival. These workshops aimed at reaching out to the student fraternity all over the country, provide a platform for the participants to identify, exchange, plan and elaborate emerging ideas and high-quality research. The 2009 workshops were held in Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Kolkata and Chennai on ‘Robotics, Finance and Cryptology’ in which students were taught fundamentals of cryptography and finance and were given practical demonstrations about making autonomous robots. The participation in these workshops this year was more than 200 students in each workshop with more than 400 students turning up for the workshop in Jaipur.

Megashows

Megashows have been a major highlight of Kshitij since its inception in 2004 and have captured the imagination of all the students in the festival. Megashows have served as a stage where education saddles upon the back of entertainment and give the budding technocrats an opportunity to unlock their minds to creativity. The megashows are viewed by more than 5000 students in the Tagore Open Air Theatre in IIT Kharagpur. The previous editions of Kshitij had the following megashows :

Pyromania : Physical and visual theater with pyrotechnics, fiber optics and innovative light effects
Jason Latimer : One of the greatest magician of the present generation
Alpha Show-Lumen : A new world of lights
Pyrotechnique Show: Fireworks as never seen before

Exhibitions

Kshitij has showcased the latest and the best in science and technology bridging the gap between man and technology. Exhibitions at Kshitij have displayed various conglomeration and grandeur enthralling the audience. Some of the exhibitions in the previous editions of Kshitij include:

Solar Robotics: Dan Roe
Mind Reading Machine: Peter Robinson
Aeroshow: Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers of India
Globe4D: Leiden University
Ultra Orb: New York University
Robo Garage: Kyoto University

Initiatives of Kshitij

Kshitij 2010 endeavours to reach out to the students of rural India, giving a new direction and orientation to their learning. Towards this objective, it will focus on reaching out, initially, to students in schools and colleges across rural Bengal. Using these as a model for study, Kshitij hopes to come out with initiatives to change the education and rural technology sectors for the better.

References

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