IEEE Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology (RSET) PES Student Branch Chapter, Kerala, India organized very effective series of events on IEEE PES Day 2020. Each event was designed to achieve a particular target and was participated by a large number of enthusiastic students. A brief description of each event is provided below:

Mindfizz – Online Technical Quiz Competition

Mindfizz was an international online technical quiz competition held on 18th April – 22nd April 2020. It consisted of 5 questions, released one per day. The quiz was constructed in such a way that answers to the initial 4 questions led to the final answer. The participants were active in their submissions, and many of them never failed to submit a single day’s entry. Top three positions were won by Ardra V Sivakami, Figi Jacob, and Anwin J Dominic from RSET, respectively. Number of Participants was 68.

The final answer of Mindfizz was in fact Tesla’s Million Mile Battery, a concept announced and patented by the Electric Vehicle manufacturer Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. We felt that it is an idea that will reshape the energy demands of the e-automotive industry, and thus effectively put it on display to the world through our event.

PES Tutorials Challenge

The RSET PES SBC initiated PES tutorials challenge, whereby student members of Kerala were encouraged to take up free PES tutorials. The event was organized during 22-30 April 2020. The PES tutorials that our society has made free, through a discount of $50, have been a boon to the students of Kerala. The session was followed by a group discussion on the topics that were dealt with at the end of each of the two topics that we had taken up. The challenge followed the pattern of the Robosanitizer that was taken up earlier in 2020 by the PES Kerala chapter, in such a way that it would be accepted by one college and upon starting they would gain rights to challenge three other colleges for the same.  More than an event hosted by the PES SBC of RSET, this can be viewed as an initiative by us to ensure that all the IEEE student members of Kerala are getting proper exposure and knowledge of the benefit of joining the IEEE PES. The event was a great success, with many colleges taking up the challenge and completing it along with us.

Powerplay – Online Technical Debate Competition

Powerplay was the international online technical debate competition organized on 22-23 April. The topic for the qualifiers was whether “nuclear energy is a viable source of energy for the future” or not. After conducting the preliminary round with 15 participants from all over the world, 6 were shortlisted. In the final round the participants fiercely presented their views on whether “AI is a boon or a curse to humanity.” The participants went through a good amount of research to get to understand the concepts and present valid points during the rebuttal rounds. Hence, we can say that several student members worldwide were exposed to technical knowledge besides solely participating in an international debate.

Quaesitor – The Instant Innovator

Quaesitor was an innovative take on the general concept of idea pitching contests and rapid-fire quiz competitions held during 23-27 April 2020. The participants were supplied with one problem statement per day for which they were supposed to write up an abstract within 24 hours. The nature of the problem statement varied from women rights violations and security issues to massive focus on energy harvesting and saving. On the last day, we conducted a rapid-fire quiz competition based the problem statements of the past four days.

The participants were from various engineering disciplines from all over the world. Total number of participants was 32. The submissions from these students were evaluated by our student branch chapter’s faculty advisor, Mrs. Pratibha PK. The top three position holders are: (1) Adithya Sailesh, CET, (2) Roy J Mathew, RSET and (3) Anwin J Dominic and Safwan Ali Noushad, RSET.

Webinar on Emerging Technologies in Power Transmission

A webinar on Emerging Technologies in Power Transmission was conducted on 27^th April 2020 by Mr. Saran KS, one of the outstanding Young Professionals of Kerala. The webinar deals with the new technological trends in Power Transmission and sought to enlighten the fresh students of Engineering discipline on the nature of their subject and the scope of their technical knowledge in the industry. Number of participants was 63.

YP Online Panel Discussion

A panel discussion session was organized on 25th April where the top Young Professional members of the IEEE Kerala Section joined. Through sharing of experiences regarding their professional life, learning how to set oneself apart from the crowd and truly discovering the endless possibilities offered by the IEEE, the event enriched student members from the very roots. The students had a very well-knit Q&A session with the YP’s, clearing their doubts at the personal as well as organizational level. Number of participants was 31.

Ananthu T Mani
Secretary, PES SBC RSET