The second season of D Relay International Energy Hackathon which is the flagship event of IEEE PES MCE SBC was organized collectively by IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter of Marian Engineering College and VIDYUTH 2019, the Electrical and Electronics Association as part of 3rd PES Day Celebrations with direct sponsorship from Megabyte Technologies Ltd. The first edition of the event was conducted last year, which gained extreme popularity and appreciation thanks to the then organizers Mr. Jacob Thomas (Founder Chairman IEEE PES MCE SBC), Mr. Febin Ansan (Secretary IEEE PES MCE SBC), and Mr. Anoop Johnson (Treasurer IEEE PES MCE SBC).

Er. Ajith Gopi, IEEE Senior Member and current Vice Chairman of IEEE PES Kerala Chapter volunteered for being our final judge for the event. The question for D Relay was formulated by Mr. Febin Ansan (IEEE PES MCE SBC,  Secretary). The posters and registration link for D Relay were given publicity on a global level. D Relay attracted participants across the globe (http://www.mecpes-vidyuth.tech/).

On registration they received a link which carried the question of D Relay. The event officially began on 8 April 2020 and was active till 12 April 2020. Participants could submit their responses before 12 April 2020. The responses were shortlisted by Mr. Febin Ansan. The selected responses were sent to our judge Mr. Ajith Gopi for final judgment. Despite his busy schedule he took immense effort to provide us with the detailed judgment and to select the winners. Akhil Krishnan from India was selected as the winner of this year’s D-RELAY.

The first webinar was held on 26 April 2020 with the speaker Er. Chaltu Marta, who is an IEEE PES Young Professional at Kenya Section. She is also a LinkedIn influencer and Google Digital Marketer. The webinar focused on “How Covid-19 is affecting Digital Marketing”. The webinar session expressed detailed overview of the digital marketing trends, effects and the points to consider from COVID-19 regarding changing customer behaviors and individual industries. It also explained the means by which digital marketers can adapt with the impact that COVID – 19 has made on E – Commerce platforms. She took initiative to share her views on how to create a strong brand and make them viable to the customers amidst the setbacks brought by COVID – 19 pandemic. The informative session attracted participant’s interest and more than 35 candidates shared their views in the webinar session.

The webinar was held on 27 April 2020 on “IoT in Real World Applications” and was handled by Er. Pratheesh V Nair. Mr. Pratheesh V Nair is a successful entrepreneur and founder of Techlog Solutions Pvt Ltd. Tachlog Pvt Ltd has experienced professionals in Embedded Technology Application development. Their Embedded Technology expertise is involved in delivering cost effective products in Embedded System technology. He is also the co-founder of Troncart. Troncart is one of the biggest E-commerce platforms in India, which ships its products all over India. They are also involved in providing technical support for all of its customers. Er. Pratheesh V Nair gave an outstanding lecture on how IoT could be the next biggest milestone in the world of Technology. The participation from students, professionals, and IEEE PES SBC MCE volunteers made the event stand out.

The third webinar was held on 28 April 2020. Our Speaker, Er. Mercy Chelangat is the Working Chair of Africa Funds Development. She is also the Women in Power Representative of East Africa Section. The webinar discussed the topic “Energy as a tool for sustainable Development”. Er. Mercy, explained that Energy is an important production factor and therefore should be managed in parallel with land, labor, and capital. She also explained that the adoption of energy efficient measures in the major economic sectors (household, industrial, and transport) will enhance profitability, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions thereby promote sustainable development and improve corporate social responsibility. She also took efforts to explain the IEEE Smart Village Project, its implementation and measures in poverty alleviation especially in the East Africa Region. As a guest of honor, Mr. Ajay, Chairman of the third IEEE PES Day celebration joined us. The webinar was an eye opener and an interesting experience for the attendees.

The fourth webinar was held on 29 April 2020, 7.00 PM IST. The webinar session handled by Er. Vijayalekshmy S, threw light on “Partial Shading of Solar Arrays”. Er. Vijayalekshmy S, is the PES Chapter Advisor of Marian Engineering College. She also adorns the post of Head of the Department, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Marian Engineering College. She is also the recipient of the prestigious Corps. Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Prize, Institute of Engineers India. The 45 minutes webinar session focused on analysis of PV array configurations under changing illumination conditions and an in detail review of the performance enhancement of various array configurations by shade dispersion. Webinar session discussed Zig Zag Rearrangement Scheme under both static shading and moving shadow conditions. More than 40 candidates participated in the webinar session. The session offered young minds the perfect opportunity to analyze the partial shading scenario.

The speaker for the fifth webinar was Er. Ajith Gopi. He is an IEEE Senior Member and currently adorns the position as the Vice Chair of IEEE PES Kerala Chapter. He is a successful alumnus of the esteemed Life Academy and holds a diploma in “Wind Power Development”. He is also a Research Scholar in Renewable Energy and Environmental Engineering at the prestigious UMP, Malaysia. He heads technical consultancy in solar PV projects at ANERT, which is the State Nodal Agency of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India, under the Department of Power, Govt. of Kerala. He holds consultancy experience for more than 100 MV PV power plants including the 25 MV PV plant commissioned at Gujarat Solar Park. He conceptualized, designed and implemented Kerala’s first Remote Sensing Village Electrification Project which brought light to more than 1000 tribal homes in Kerala. He is also an active member of International Solar Energy Society and International Experts Network. The webinar session analyzed the topic “Wind Power Development in Kerala” its scopes and challenges in detail. The one hour session involved 15 minutes interactive session where the participants could express their queries to Mr. Ajith Gopi. More than 45 students across India participated. The event was special in its own way as it marked the official closing ceremony of the activities of 2019 EXECOM members.

In online hackathon TECHNOVATION was organized where participants had to provide creative solutions to real life problems and scenarios. It challenges young technical minds to come up with innovative, renewable, and cost-effective solutions to the problem given. Abhinand L R of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

An interesting quiz competition named TRIVIAL was organized. TRIVIAL involved technical brain teasers and riddles to provide an interesting and fun filled experience to the attendees. Gokul K R of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

TECHCRASTINUM was an online poster making competition. “Technology in 2050s” was given in advance and the students were asked to upload the final work. More than 62 students participated in the event. Fasna R S of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

An online coding competition D Code was organized to increase the participation of computer science and engineering students. Muhammad Rizwan N of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

The event “Mechanic” was formulated especially in order to increase the participation of Mechanical Engineering students. It was a Q/A type session based on a given comprehension. Lekshmi Raj of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

An interesting technical game section DYNAMITE was organized. Participants had to answer questions based on some scientific innovations and technologies. Amal A N of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

A coding competition ARDUINO BUZZ was organized. It is an Arduino based coding competition to predict the most accurate code which would generate the plot displayed by the serial plotter. The event gained high popularity, participation and Nicky Biju of Marian Engineering College secured the first prize in the competition.

Jacob Thomas Puthukeril
(IEEE PES Young Professional, Advisory Committee Member-2019, 3rd PES Day YP Ambassador)