Department of Computer Applications organizes engaging and informative events for MCA newcomers

PES University recently inaugurated the 9th batch of its Master of Computer Applications (MCA) program, followed by a welcome party. To ensure a smooth and enjoyable transition for the new students, the Department of MCA organized a series of Bootstrap activities, which included bridge courses, Know your PES sessions, alumni interactions, and upskilling events. Several competitions were held, with winners awarded during the closing ceremony.

Dr. A Lekha, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Applications, led a 10-day bridge course on C programming, covering logic building, algorithms, flowcharts, and C language basics. Students shared their experiences of unlearning and relearning topics with a fresh perspective.

A series of web technology sessions were conducted by Mr. Tamal Day, Asst. Prof., Department of Computer Applications, who covered HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap. Students were assigned a website development project, culminating in a showcase at the PESU52 arena.

Mr. Dilip Maripuri and Mr. Santosh Katti, both from the Department of Computer Applications, conducted sessions on Linux Operating Systems and motivational talks, respectively. Prof. V Krishna, Dean, of Student Affairs, gave a talk on various clubs and activities on campus, followed by an alumnus interaction with Mr. Nagendra, a Healthcare and IT professional.

The 'init' club of MCA organized an IT Quiz, with seven students emerging as winners in various categories. Skill development sessions on UX & UI tools Balsmiq and Figma were conducted by Ms. Premalatha H M and a student team led by Mr. Sasikumar. Students also participated in a hands-on computer hardware session, led by Mr. Karthik Sarode and his team.

Mr. Vinay, Director, the Department of Sports and Fitness, spoke about health, fitness, and sportsmanship, and arranged a visit to the new sports facility. Prof. Karthik, CoE, PESU, provided an orientation on PES University Examinations, followed by an alumni interaction with Ms. Sahana Hegde, a Program Manager at VMware and former PESU student.

Further interactions with alumni, including Mr. Arun A, a Business Rules Developer at Mercedes Benz, were organized. Mr. Subhash, Librarian, PESU, gave a talk on library facilities and demonstrated access to the digital library.

Mr. Sachin Veerendra, a corporate trainer and entrepreneur, shared tips for cracking aptitude tests and his experiences in a business establishment. Mr. Sreenivas, Asst. Prof., Department of Computer Applications, conducted sessions on AngularJS, while Mr. Bhargav H S and Mr. Vishnu Joshi led hands-on workshops on Git.

The series of Bootstrap and Bridge course activities concluded on November 11, 2022, with an MCA Orientation led by Chairperson Dr. Veena S. The event introduced students to faculty members and felicitated winners of the IT Quiz and IT Manager competitions. Dr. Veena S wished the new batch a successful career and a fruitful learning experience at PES University.

On April 11th, 2023, the Department of Computer Applications at PES University held a highly successful operating system hackathon dubbed "Shell Hack" at GJ PESU 52. The three-hour event aimed to bring together students passionate about operating systems, offering a platform for them to demonstrate their skills and creativity while nurturing critical thinking and collaboration. 

The hackathon witnessed participation from MCA 1st semester students, who were organized into teams of 4 - 5 members. With a total of 50 teams competing, the event centered on deadlock recovery in operating systems. Each team was assigned a specific problem and given three hours to develop their projects and present their solutions to their respective mentors. 

A unique aspect of the hackathon was the requirement for students to collaborate with unfamiliar teammates. This approach promoted interaction among participants, encouraged teamwork, and facilitated learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses. 

Throughout the competition, participants had access to resources such as computers, software, and internet connectivity. Mentors were on hand to provide guidance and support. They offered valuable advice and helped students overcome any challenges they faced during the event. 

Teams were tasked with creating solutions that met specific requirements, and their performance was evaluated based on criteria such as PPT presentation, functionality, implementation, coding quality, and the originality and ingenuity of their ideas. Despite encountering obstacles like understanding requirements, rapid coding, debugging, and troubleshooting, students remained focused and driven throughout the activity. 

The Shell Hack operating system hackathon proved to be a resounding success, with all participating teams showcasing exceptional talent and expertise. Students, who began the event as strangers, formed strong bonds with their teams and mentors, gaining new skills and techniques related to operating system development. The hackathon presented a valuable opportunity for participants to network, share knowledge, and gain hands-on experience in the field of operating systems.

On 31st March 2023, the Department of Computer Applications at PES University hosted PySparkle, a 9-hour Python hackathon featuring a series of fun and engaging coding challenges designed to test the Python skills of MCA students. The event successfully brought together participants eager to compete and showcase their coding prowess.

PySparkle offered a diverse array of challenges across various topics, including data mastery, object puzzles, efficient code creation, and class manipulation. This allowed participants to test their skills in different coding areas and push their creative and problem-solving abilities to the limit. The Datamastery challenge was particularly popular, testing participants' abilities to manipulate data sets and extract meaningful insights. Pyflow, another sought-after challenge, required students to create efficient and scalable code to process large amounts of data quickly without bottlenecks or performance issues. The Object Puzzle challenge tested participants' problem-solving skills as they solved puzzles based on object-oriented programming concepts. Lastly, the Class Kingdom challenge evaluated participants' ability to create and manipulate classes in Python.

In addition to the coding challenges, participants received feedback from judges and mentors throughout the day, providing valuable insights and guidance on approaching the challenges and improving their coding skills. A sense of camaraderie and collaboration permeated the event, as participants worked together in teams to solve coding challenges, fostering a sense of community and shared learning.

The successful organization of PySparkle by the Department of Computer Applications highlights their commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation within the Python programming community. The event provided a fantastic opportunity for participants to showcase their skills, learn from one another, and have fun, further strengthening the Python programming community at PES University.

The Department of Computer Applications recently hosted an invigorating Data Structures Hackathon, known as "CodeCrush," specifically for MCA students. The event took place on March 29, 2023, and focused on utilizing data structures with the C-language to tackle real-world problems.

Beginning at 11 am, teams received problem statements and spent the initial 30 minutes discussing and analyzing the requirements. In the subsequent hour, participants devised strategies for application development, assigned team leaders, and distributed specific modules among team members.

The mandatory incorporation of linked lists and their various types added an exciting layer of complexity to the challenge. Teams then spent the next two hours implementing their innovative solutions. With a remarkable attendance of 165 students across 40 teams, the event demonstrated the immense potential of these young minds.

CodeCrush provided a unique opportunity for MCA students to collaborate and apply data structures to real-world situations. Throughout the hackathon, participants sharpened their technical skills and showcased exceptional leadership qualities, effective communication, and the ability to deliver results within tight deadlines.

By the end of the event, students were brimming with excitement and gratitude for the experience. They eagerly shared their positive feedback and expressed how the CodeCrush Hackathon had fueled their passion for data structures and their practical applications, setting the stage for future success in the field.

The language club Linguista! conducted recruitments for its core team of moderators who play an active role in organizing events and encouragers who assist novice learners for the role. The recruitment process was conducted from February 6-10 online.

The Department of Computer Applications organized a Spring Boot workshop on January 13, 2023, led by Mr. Vamsi, Senior Architect at Uttunga Technologies, Bangalore. The workshop aimed to introduce students to the Spring framework and its capabilities for building efficient and robust web applications. 

More than a hundred students from the Computer Applications department attended the workshop, which focused on providing them with a comprehensive understanding of the Spring Boot framework. Participants were introduced to the ease of use and capabilities of Spring Boot in building web applications and were given hands-on experience in creating a simple web application using the framework. 

The six-hour workshop consisted of a theoretical session followed by a practical session. Mr. Vamsi began by introducing the students to Spring Boot, the basics of the Spring Framework, and its role in web development. A hands-on session followed, which covered Spring Boot and its dependencies, such as starter-web and Thymeleaf. During this session, students created a form and connected it to a MySQL database. 

Student evaluations were based on their participation in the hands-on sessions and their understanding of the topics covered during the workshop. The overall feedback from the students was positive, and they found the workshop to be informative and useful. The workshop helped to improve the student's understanding of the Spring Framework and its role in web development, equipping them with the knowledge and experience to build their own web applications using Spring Boot in the future..

The Department of Computer Applications hosted the Javathon event on January 12, 2023, a hackathon-style gathering that brought together students from the department to showcase their Java programming prowess. The event took place at the golden jubilee block, where participants formed teams to collaborate on projects that utilized Java technology. 

The Javathon aimed to promote innovation and creativity in the Java programming community. Participants were challenged to think outside the box and develop solutions that could create a platform to connect company requirements and job seekers. The goal was to complete the demand and supply chain using Java programming concepts and tools. 

The problem was declared on the spot, and throughout the event, participants worked tirelessly on their projects. Each team presented their project to a panel of judges who evaluated the projects based on criteria such as innovation, creativity, functionality, and usability. The presentations were engaging and inspiring, showcasing the amazing potential of Java programming to solve the problem. 

Overall, the Javathon was a fantastic event that provided the students with an opportunity to showcase their skills and creativity. The event was a great success and demonstrated the potential for Java programming to address real-world challenges.

Students Collaborate in Hackathon-style Competition to Tackle Machine Learning Problem 

The Department of Computer Applications successfully hosted a Datathon event on January 12, 2023, which witnessed the coming together of students from the department to work on a critical machine learning project. Held at the Golden Jubilee block, the event featured a hackathon-style format, with participants given a problem statement to work on throughout the day.

The problem was released on the Kaggle website, challenging students to predict the suitability percentage of water resources for human well-being using machine learning concepts and tools. The participants, fueled by their passion for technology, worked tirelessly on their projects, showcasing their skills in a competitive environment.

The event's main objective was to focus on a machine learning problem with real-world implications, emphasizing the importance of data-driven solutions for societal challenges. Participants were encouraged to think creatively and explore various algorithms and techniques to achieve the highest accuracy in their predictions.

Judging for the Datathon was based on the accuracy of the predictions, with the winning team earning bragging rights for their exceptional problem-solving skills. The event was a resounding success, bringing together students from the Department of Computer Applications to collaborate and learn from one another.

The Datathon provided an excellent opportunity for the participants to not only showcase their abilities but also learn from their peers. The hands-on experience of working on a complex machine learning problem helped students gain valuable insights and develop their expertise in the field.

The Department of Computer Applications organized a two-day visit for students and faculty to the 25th Bengaluru Tech Summit on November 17-18, 2022. The summit, held at the iconic Bengaluru Palace, had the theme 'Tech4NexGen' and brought together a diverse group of innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and policymakers from various technology fields.

The group started their journey from college at 10:45 am and arrived at the venue around noon. The summit featured nearly 500 exhibitors, offering a wide array of opportunities for students to explore the latest technological advancements. Members of startups and other exhibitors enthusiastically shared their ideas and experiences with students. Some even offered internships to eager learners.

Students found the virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors, robotics, electronics, and biotechnology fields particularly fascinating. Key highlights from the summit included Iverse's use of VR in e-commerce, meat printers for printing human cells and organs using bio-materials, ISRO rockets (PSLV and GSLV), Indian defence technologies, the first telescope, replaceable electric helmets, underwater garbage collectors, Voltron, and several agrotech startups.

The visit provided students with valuable exposure to the latest technology and insights into the applicability of IT in various fields. They came away with a renewed sense of the potential of innovation and ideas to drive significant progress.

At the end of the visit, faculty members and students took group pictures and shared their thoughts on the experience. Overall, the Bengaluru Tech Summit was a highly informative and engaging event that offered a wealth of learning opportunities for participants from diverse backgrounds in science and technology.

Mr. Pramodh Nataraj delivers an engaging talk on India's struggle for freedom and the importance of youth involvement in nation-building.

Bengaluru, August 11, 2022 - The Department of Computer Applications, in collaboration with Disha Bharath, hosted a riveting guest lecture at Panini block yesterday. The event, which took place from 3:30 to 4:30 pm, featured Mr. Pramodh Nataraj as the keynote speaker. He spoke on the theme Swaraj@75, a student outreach program commemorating the "Azadi ke Amrut Mahotsav."

The one-hour lecture was an interactive and information-packed session that left attendees in awe. Nataraj began by discussing the richness of India's history and its global significance. He went on to detail the numerous battles fought for freedom from British rule, highlighting various Indian rulers and their contributions.

Among the stories shared were the fierce battles led by Kittur Chennamma, Manikarnika Rani, and Sangolli Rayanna, as well as the revolutions sparked by individuals like Mangal Pandey, Swami Vivekananda, and the trio of Lal, Bal, Pal. Nataraj also touched on the influential literature of Bakim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore and the formation of the first Indian armed force under Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

The engaging session made students appreciate the sacrifices of over six lakh freedom fighters who struggled to achieve India's independence. Nataraj inspired the youth to understand the nation's past glories and pain, recognize the present circumstances, and take an active role in shaping India's future.

To conclude the event, Mr. Pramodh led the students in taking an oath to contribute to the nation in any capacity they can. The Swaraj@75 lecture left a lasting impact on the attendees, inspiring them to take up the mantle of responsibility and contribute to India's ongoing growth and development.

The Bootstrap session featured interactions on technical, social responsibility and personality development topics. Dr. Keshavan B K, Dean Engineering, Guest of Honour gave the welcome speech and advised the students to work on inter-disciplinary projects. Dr. K S Sridhar, Registrar, PESU and Dean, Placements presided over the function. He advised the students to consider their inception as a countdown and not the beginning of making a great career. Dr. Veena S, Chairperson, Dept. of Computer Applications, briefed about the 3-day Bootstrap activity. Prof. CNR Rao Scholarships and Prof. MRD Scholarships were awarded to the program toppers of the MCA 2020. Mr. Manish Singh, Founder and CEO, Innovators Bay Technologies, alumnus of PES and chief guest of the event spoke about the technology trends and how the curriculum would help the freshers in making a better career. He also stressed upon innovation and at the same time, pursuing one’s hobbies. The event was followed by bridge course on computer fundamentals conducted by Mr. Santosh Katti, Asst. Prof., Dept. of Computer Applications which covered simple logic building skills, Algorithms and Flowcharts. It was followed by session on Academic Excellence – Motivation to Success, by a professional trainer Mr. Pramod Nataraj, from Disha, a NGO that provides training to students and faculty. He illustrated experimenting with truth. The sessions included Time Management, Stress Management, physical activities and interactions leading to academic excellence and motivational thoughts. The second day of the Bootstrap event included a bridge-course on Data- Structures using C, by Dr. Lekha, Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Computer Applications. It was followed by a visit to an Ashram, Sawan Durbar, off Uttarahalli-Kengeri Road, Bengaluru. The inmates of the Ashram conducted a session on Values of life and demonstrated the concept of service. A group of students were made to till the land for harvesting the rain water and plantation. Another group of students assisted construction of the road using mud and jelly stones. Another group of students cemented the water leakages in the water passages. The students were introduced to honey bee cultivation and the honey extraction process. A workshop on building and hosting online resume was conducted by senior students Mr. Atishay Jain, Ms. Soundarya J and Mr. Tushar Ankit. The students were introduced to web hosting technologies and WordPress. The third day of the Bootstrap activity started with bridge-courses on Data Structures using C, conducted by Dr. Lekha and Introduction to Operating Systems”, by Dr. Thenmozhi, Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Computer Applications. The motivational session Mr. Veerendra R. Sachin, a Corporate Trainer Beyond all limits touched upon preparation for placements and confidence building. He also spoke about ethics during interviews, Team and Time Management and Dreaming big. In conclusion he said, “thinking out of the box and hard work, can make anyone an entrepreneur”. Students, Mr. Siddharth and Ms. Suhruta conducted an IT- Quiz on Kahoot platform. Mr. Parikshit and Mr.Pallav conducted a workshop on Computer Hardware assembly and laptop upgrading challenges. The Department of Computer Applications organised the Bootstrap program for the fresh batch of students of MCA program on November 25, 2021.

Widespread awareness about the issues facing the environment among the students came to the fore with their enthusiastic participation in contests with the theme of Care Nature - Nature Cares. The contests in painting, photography, sketching, poetry also covered singing, slogan writing and poster making. The Department of MCA organised the contests to celebrate the World Environment Day on June 5, 2021.

The workshop introduced the students to building an application using Node.JS, Angular.JS, Express and MongoDB. The workshop also touched upon security and best practices. The workshop started with the basics of Javascript, followed by programming the front-end and back-end design. It included cloud Database connectivity using MongoDB. The interactive workshop was conducted by Mr. Ravi, Engineering Manager, Solutions Engineer and Mr. Aman and Mr. Eyad, Software Developers at Meltwater and alumni of MCA. The Department of Master of Computer Applications (MCA) organised the day long online workshop for its final year students on Aug 29, 2020.

The International Yoga Day was celebrated at PES University in virtual mode. Over 60 yoga enthusiasts participated online on a video platform, some of them were joined by family members. A demo video was shared with the registered participants before the event. 21 Surya-Namaskaras each comprising 12 asanas were followed by 10 minutes of Shavaasana. Mr. Santosh Katti and Ms. Deepthi, Asst. Professors from the Department of MCA, anchored the event. The event hosted by the Department of MCA was held on June 21, International Yoga Day.

The exponential increase in the distribution and interactivity of multimedia content expects the students of computer applications to update themselves on the developments in networking technologies. The speaker, Mr. Manakamana Mishra made the students of MCA aware of the importance of Networking in academics and how it is helpful in industry. He highlighted the necessity and significance of how the other courses like Data structures, Computer Architecture, Analysis and Design of Algorithms are interlinked. He touched upon the usage of linked list, tree structures, programming skills and networking concepts in real world network applications. The standards of various protocols, he said, across vendors are important to be interoperable. He illustrated a simple problem where a million nodes are connected and the demand was to see that the network never goes down for more than a second. Reducing the down time from 7 seconds to 1 second was a great challenge as he recounted. The Cisco team worked on the underlying data-structure and reduced the downtime. He advised students to practice reading, participate in IETF interactions, comment and suggest ideas at Quagga and present novel ideas for RFC. Answering the queries of students, he spoke about how hands-on knowledge and expertise is more important than mere certifications. He also asked the students to explore more on Machine Reasoning, which is a deterministic approach. He shared insights about Cloud Networking and Cisco Silicon One as requested by the attendees and assured the students of assisting them in their projects and proposals. The session was conducted on CISCO WebEx platform. Mr. Manakamana Mishra, Technical Leader at Cisco, SanJose, USA is an alumnus of PES from the MCA programme. He has been with Cisco for over a decade and presently works on Routing. Manakamana has to his credit 2 patents and 20 patents applications and more than 10 papers with IETF. The department of MCA organised the live streaming of Guest Lecture on May 1, 2020.

Amidst lockdown students of the second and fourth semester of the MCA programme took up the challenge of coming up with Java based solutions in less than four hours. The contesting teams in Javathon 2020, interacted with the mentors on the university’s Impartus video platform on text and audio chat and desktop sharing. Amrutha D won the first prize followed by Zain Baig in the Convert IP challenge. Vishal Prajapat won the first prize followed by Rahul Rajpoot in Resistor Resistance. The event was organised under the guidance of faculty member Mr. Santosh Katti, who also mentored the teams along with other members Ms. Archana and Ms. Deepti. JAVATHON-2020 which was set up on Hackerrank platform and held on April 16, 2020 was conducted smoothly and drew enthusiastic participation amidst the lockdown and interaction challenges. The response has encouraged the students and organising faculty to conduct more such events at the state and national levels.

Students got an opportunity to understand an expert’s perspective on software quality. Mr. V Mani who leads the Metrics team in IBM Quality shared his insights about Software Quality drawing on his deep expertise in process models. He shared insights about software quality definition and assurance, quality metrics, and defect management. The online guest lecture organised by the department of MCA was held on April 9, 2020.

The Department of MCA, during the time of Nation-wide lockdown, has shown a gesture of one-ness. All the staff members and students along with their family members, participated in the call made by our Prime Minister Modiji, to light up lamps/Diyas on 5th April 2020 at 9 pm for 9 minutes.

In the time of social-distancing, all the staff members, students and their family members came together on the digital platform to express their gratitude towards the Doctors for their selfless service in this pandemic season.

The 25 th anniversary of Uday Shankar Ballet and Dance Festival was organised by Shruthi Mandal at Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 26 th February 2020. The event was organised in memory of Sri. Uday Shankar, the legend of Indian Dance and choreographer, Padma Vibhushan awardee and Sangeet Nataka Akademi award winner. It is our pride to announce that, Ms. Chaitra, from 2 nd semester MCA, presented her Kuchipudi dance performance during the event, representing Shambhavi School of Dance Ensemble. Ms. Chaitra is practicing the art for 15 years.

“Time and tide wait for none”, as the saying goes, the students of MCA decided to prove it wrong. It was a new activity on campus that invited students to capture the time and freeze it in the memory lanes of the Department of MCA.

As part of the Extended week day activity, the department had organized the Photography contest. A large number of students came up with their DSLR hanging around to participate. Many of them wanted to try with their mobile cameras. A few of them had even got additional lens to fit in to their mobile camera for the best possible shot.

The theme given to the students for the Photography contest was “The Beginning”. From the large number of photos received, a few were shortlisted. The best two photographs were selected for the top two positions. A consolation prize was also declared which had shared the same number of points.

To revive the memories of childhood and enjoy traditional games, the department of MCA organised inter semester Lagori games. The second semester team emerged as the winners in the final game held at PESU RR campus on Feb 11, 2020.

Rasa Prashne 2019, quiz program for school children from Vajarahalli, Srinagar, Veerabhadranagar, Tataguni, Muthurayanagar was organised by the students in the Biotechnology department. Three rounds of quiz were conducted on general knowledge, literature and sports and entertainment. The winners were felicitated with books and gifts. The program was held on the campus on Jan 18, 2020.

The Department of MCA organised a one-day Python workshop for its 4th semester students in association with BITES. The theme of the workshop was “Problem Solving Sessions”. Dr. C P Ravi Kumar, Director, Talent Acquisition, Texas Instruments, Bengaluru, also having worked as Professor at IIT Delhi and IIT Chennai, was the resource person. Dr. Ravi Kumar started the sessions by solving simple mathematical problems. He moved on to working with Lists and various methods on Lists. He raised the real time problems and also provided alternate ways of finding solutions. The handling of Sets and Dictionaries were also made simple to use and implement, deriving at solutions to complex problems. The students also enjoyed working with Functions, Files and Classes which was made easy to understand by Dr. Ravi Kumar. Throughout his sessions, he also highlighted about the significance of indentation in coding, nomenclature of identifiers, purpose of using new editors and more. In the concluding session, he suggested some tips for getting ready for the industry, being open for learning newer technologies, becoming curious for enhancing one’s knowledge and what the industry expects from interns. In a nut-shell, all the students had a great learning experience which also boosted their confidence to work on Python. Dr. K N B Murthy, Vice-Chancellor, PES University and Chairman BITES, gave away the memento to the Guest and also thanked the Dept. of MCA for conducting regular workshops in the benefit of students.

The department of MCA, PES University, organised the 7th CAC, Celebrities and Celebrations, in association with BITES, at the MCA Seminar Hall, PES University, RR Campus, on 7th December 2019. The celebrity of the month was Prof. Naom Chomsky, the living legend and the Father of modern linguistics. Dr. Kavi Mahesh, Director, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Dharwad, was the speaker of the day. Dr. Lekha, Professor from the department of Computer Applications welcomed the guests and introduced the speaker. Dr. Kavi Mahesh, started with the Chomsky’s journey of understanding human language and its varieties. He mentioned about Chomsky’s idea of Cognitive learning. He further expressed his views of learning languages among human beings and animals. The snippet of a parrot responding to a human verbally, became a food for thought to discourse on capacities and capabilities of human and animal learning languages. He also highlighted about the cognitive learning study based on Nature Vs Nurture. He went on to explain how Chomsky analysed the concept to conclude that both have an impact on language learning. He also put forward the popular theory of Prof. Naom Chomsky, which believes, there is one Universal language which follows basic principles and parameters. The study on Universal language theory, took transitions based on rules and certain exceptions. He also clearly explained the Chomsky hierarchy of cognitive learning with a clear distinction between context free and context sensitive languages. Mr. Santosh Katti, Professor from department of Computer Applications gave away the vote of thanks. Dr. KNB Murthy, Vice-Chancellor, PES University and Chairman, BITES, along with Prof. Chennabassppa, Director, SIT Tumkur, and former Chairman, BITES, handed over the token of appreciation to the distinguished speaker, Dr. Kavi Mahesh.

Dr. Rekha Srinivasan delivered a talk on designing active learning classroom (ALC) for Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM), a bridge between teaching and learning. She is James S. Swinehart Professorial Teaching Fellow and Senior Instructor in the Department of Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, USA. Dr Rekha Srinivasan spoke about integrating active learning strategies in the classroom, using some common and simple active learning strategies in teaching and instructional technologies to support the use of active learning and maintaining the student-attention-span. Dr. Rekha Srinivasan mentioned that pursuit of active research enhances the teachers’ ability to teach effectively bringing out the application areas of the lessons learnt. She circulated a learning style questionnaire, to find out what kind of learner each of them was. She explained that there were three types of learners – audio learners, visual learners and kinesthetic learners. She mentioned that it is important to be aware that in a classroom there will be all the three types of learners and the instruction should cater to all the types to keep the whole class lively and involved. She noted that this can be achieved with a proper mix of auditory instructions, visuals and hands on exercises. Dr Rekha Srinivasan also made all the participants to answer a classroom teaching style survey to know what kind of teacher they were: Traditional (teacher centered), Transitional (teacher guided), Transitional (student influenced), Reformed (student centered). This led to an introspection on the type of teacher each one was. She reiterated that each and every type was acceptable and reflected the type of teaching outlook. Dr. Rekha Srinivasan spoke about new learning techniques such as Concept Maps, Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) Classes and JiTT which could enhance the classroom experience. She also spoke about flipped and hybrid classrooms, and the need to involve the students in group activities to enhance the learning outcomes. She stressed on the need for infrastructural and technological support to support the new age teaching requirements.

The participants in the workshop were inspired to come up with innovative solutions to the prevailing social problems. The exercise helped them overcome the fear of public speaking, hone interviewing skills, try divergent thinking, and work as a team. Mr. Hemanth Gorur, Ms. Nisary Mahesh and Mr. Sunil from Bumblebee academy shared insights about the 5 phases of Design thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Every team came up with creative ideas and solutions and prototypes to prove their realistic approach to solving social problems. Dr. KNB Murthy, Chairman, BITES and Vice-Chancellor, PES University, encouraged the students to carry their enthusiasm to aim higher in their career. The department of MCA in association with BITES, Board for IT Education Standards organized the 3-day workshop on Design Thinking for MCA students from Nov 11 to 13, 2019.

Students of MCA program had two days of enriching sessions that prepared them for the academic rigour ahead by refreshing their approach to learning. The participants found the visit to Ravishankar Ashram, personality development sessions, group discussions, Yoga and quiz useful in support and direction for their regular learning. The program was organised by the Department of Computer Applications on Sept 20-21, 2019.

The program to identify Leads for the India Mobile Congress 2019 was hosted by the MCA department in association with Qogno Solutions. The 4 day highly interactive program drew participants from across colleges in Bangalore. Each day featured sessions conducted by corporate executives; Mr. Avijeet Dutta, Managing Partner India, TenX2, Mr. Amitabh Nag, Head, Digital India, HP, Mr. Kuttappa, Vice-President, ARM India, Ms. Priya, Vice-President, IDECK. They interacted with the students on topics of 5G technologies, future technological projects and Smart cities. They shared insights about the working of start-ups and its requirements. Mr. Gururaj Nayak, co-founder and CEO, Qogno solutions addressed the students and explained how students would gain from the exposure and opportunities at IMC 2019. Qogno solutions and PES University co-sponsored the program and expenses including travel to New Delhi, for the Leads and a few faculty members. The students are excited to fly to Delhi and be at the forefront of IMC 2019 expo and interact with delegates from leading global companies.

A team of students undertook the initiative of raising awareness about voting. They designed and displayed posters on importance of voting and spoke about the theme. The team helped senior citizens of Little Sisters of the Poor old-age home reach their respective voting booth on the day of election, April 18 and escorted them back after voting. Dr M R Doreswamy praised the efforts of the students of MCA and said, “Our students are like role models for the youth in executing their responsibilities in their own capacity.”

Celebrating the spirit of innovation unleashed by RaspberryPi, the one day event, Pi-DEA featured interesting activities under Events like Pi-Quiz, Pi-Puzzle, Pi-Paint, Pi-Code, Pi-Game and Show-Pi. The online Pi-Quiz attracted worldwide participation. The “init” club of MCA department collaborated with the official Raspberry Pi clubs-Code-Club; CoderDojo for this event held on Mar 14, 2019.

Students got an opportunity to participate in the Akshaya Patra program and attend workshop on Mind and Body.At Gurukula Vidya Peeta, they distributed books, clothes, and stationery and basic coaching in mathematics was conducted by the faculty.Students participated in the activity on September 29, 2018 as part of the Boot Strap program of department of computer applications.