Abhigna Shastry led the team that won the second place in the ASEAN-India Hackathon. The team built a product that facilitates maritime security by providing an early detection and alert on piracy attempts in oceans. The six member team consisted of participants from Indian, Singapore, Vietnam and Philippines. The contest, an initiative of the government of India is a 36 hours Hackathon in which participating countries collaborate, with each team comprising participants from different countries. The first-ever ASEAN-India Hackathon concluded on February 4 with more than 400 students, mentors, and officials from 10 ASEAN countries and India participating.
Entrepreneurship is about transforming ideas to market ready products and solutions. The E-summit virtual event, provided the participants an exposure to the wide array of skills that are essential to take a plunge into entrepreneurship. The live virtual event coordinated from two campuses reached over 800 students from colleges all over India. Experienced professionals and successful entrepreneurs shared their insights experience in talks, workshops and a panel discussion. Seven companies participated in the event. Five competitions tested the abilities of the participants in striking out on their own. Abhijeet Saungikar, Technical Vice President, 3M highlighted the importance of innovation in the market to succeed. Devashish Vaishnav, Founder of CoachEd and ex-President of ECell shared tips on resume building to convey one's strengths and achievements. Mekin Maheshwari, ex-CPO of Flipkart and founder of udhyam.org demonstrated how students can evaluate and make the most of the entrepreneurship opportunities. Workshop on creating a personal brand by Sezel Lalwani and Tharun Jagateri, co-founders of Fire.fly guided the students on introspecting to identify one's best abilities and highlighting them. Kalpana Ramesh, founder of Rainwater Project spoke on sustainability in entrepreneurship, sharing insights about the role social responsibility in business success. The panel discussion on impact of pandemic on startups in India brought forth how innovative thinking and empathy guides an entrepreneur to convert challenges into opportunity. Panelists, Saahil Kamath, Founder of Marsview.ai, Akarsh Shroff, Forbes India Teenpreneur 2020 and Founder, S.P.A.R.K and Suresh Narasimha, Venture Capitalist, shared insights drawn from their personal experiences as entrepreneurs and investors. The insightful interaction was moderated by Sathya Prasad. The participants got a glimpse of the nature of business competition in the games of Brand wars, Air crash, ad making, and shark tank. Midnight virtual event on crisis bidding got the participants bidding for assets on a dynamic site developed by a student team. E-summit aimed at fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship was organised by PES Entrepreneurship Cell in a virtual mode using Discord, Zoom and YouTube platforms on Nov 7-8, 2020.
Dr S V Satish spoke at an interactive session of the international meet-up of robotics and automation enthusiasts. As an invited panel speaker, he shared his perspective on Robotics and Automation during COVID-19. The meet-up in virtual mode that was held on Sep 18, 2020 and organised by IEEE RAS International Chapter hosted experts from Japan, India and Indonesia.
PES University conducted its Fifth annual convocation on November 8th, 2020 with a total of 2032 candidates receiving the degrees. It was a mixed mode with Ph.D. holders and rank holders were invited for the convocation while other successful graduates watched the proceedings online. Two candidates were conferred Doctorate degrees at the ceremony and 14 gold medals and 59 silver medals were won by the graduating class.
His Lordship Mr Justice Gopal Gowda V delivered the convocation address. He said that the circumstances of this convocation are a bit unusual, and I would have loved the opportunity to meet all of the graduands and congratulated them at their immense achievement in person. He said Engineering is one of the oldest professions known to mankind, along with medicine and law. Engineers are the often said to be the architects of modern India. Right from the great Sir M. Visvesvaraiyya, Jagdish Chandra Bose, M.N Dastur, the designer of Steel plants, APJ Abdul Kalam, till the more recent example of Mr. E Sreedharan, the ‘metro man’ of Delhi. Science and technology is duly recognized as the vehicle to take India into the front ranks of the nations of the world. An issue of equal importance in the role of engineers, especially in a society like ours, is that they have the burden of addressing problems specific to developing communities including water provisioning and purification, sanitation, power production, shelter, site planning, infrastructure, food production and distribution, and communication, among many others.
Further he highlighted on space-race and role of engineers. While the space race is on all over the world, the Indian engineers play a key role in designing ingenious satellites, without any help from the intelligentsia of other countries. These satellites, apart from enhancing our knowledge about the Universe, also play a major role by performing several other key functions, like predicting whether, and the rainfall pattern, flood warning etc.
What is not understood is how many engineers, technologists and technicians are required to drive economic growth and sustainable development objectives within a country. There is no simple answer to this question as it is not simply a numbers game; more engineering professionals are needed if the number of engineers, engineering technologists and engineering technicians per capita is below the figures of a country’s competitors. Furthermore, increasing the number of engineering graduates is not necessarily a solution as there may be a shortfall in the job market for such graduates or the attractiveness of other non-engineering professions requiring problem-solving skills might entice graduates away from engineering he added.
Dr M R Doreswamy acknowledged PANDIT MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA who was instrumental in establishing BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY. As founder what I expect from our graduands are:
(1) Parents have played a vital role in your success as a graduand and it is your first and foremost duty to remember, recognize and honor the sacrifice of your parents on this very auspicious occasion. Next, teachers. Teachers have moulded you into professionals. Remember and respect them. Finally have gratitude to Society.
(2) Follow core values of PES i.e. Perseverance, Excellence and Service in your life. At PES we have perseverance i.e. continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties / challenges. You are steeping into real world and you may have lot of challenges, remember “P” of PES i.e perseverance, I am sure you will succeed and PES has already imbibed this in you he added. You entered the portals of PES University to get a degree, I am very happy to say that you are leaving with not just a degree but a career including very good placements in a best company. Thus you have excelled. Next core value is “SERVICE”. Service has become one of our core values of PES. As a student myself I started school at Thyagarajnagar as that locality had no schools in those days. It is not that I had all resources so I started a school, but it was with motivation to render service to society. If you look at 5 decades of my journey in the field of education, service is our motto he added. He re-called service in terms of school adoption, house constructions, medical camps, blood donation camps, etc
(3) Admire NEP: New Education Policy (NEP) emphasises on making ‘job creators’ instead of ‘job seekers’ and I call upon all graduands to become ‘job creators’. NEP is comprehensive, holistic, far sighted and aimed to bring revolutionary change in education system.
(4) Every graduate of PES University should fight against the corruption, fight against crime and terror, fight against injustice.
Prof. D Jawahar, Pro Chancellor admitted the qualifying candidates and administered the oath of working for public good, innovating for advancement in their field of work, accountability to future generation, conducting oneself with honour and upholding the values of perseverance, excellence and service. He unveiled the scroll of honour carrying the names and pictures of meritorious students of the year.
Dr J Suryaprasad, Vice Chancellor introduced the chief guest and dignitaries on the dais. Dr M R Doreswamy, Chancellor declared the convocation proceedings open. Dr K S Sridhar, Registrar presented the candidates to the council of the university.
The graduating class saw active recruitment by leading global and Indian investment banks, software and engineering companies and promising start ups. The graduating batch made the most of the internship opportunities with key industry players.
“Equinox- The Space Club of PES University" has been doing some amazing work on Instagram.
It has become the highest followed club page in PES and has inspired club pages to start content series in and outside PES. Their weekly reach - 3000 Instagram Accounts. Currently they have 2900 followers.
Journey through spacetime with Equinox with every fact-filled Monday (Facta Spatium), detailed Wednesday(Cosmic Catechism) and curious Friday (Curiositas). Get to know the latest space news, answer trivias, attend live space talks and relish a space comic which progresses as per your choices.
Follow Equinox - The Space Club of PES University @equinox.pes
In the honour of the celebrated singer S P Balasubrahmanyam, the students of PES University put together a Shraddhanjali programme on Oct 3, 2020 which was streamed online. The event was graced by renowned musicians, Vidwan Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma, Pandit Pravin Godkhindi, Vidwan B. S. Arun Kumar and Vidwan Venugopal Raju. They shared touching anecdotes of their experiences with the Shri SPB, bringing the viewers closer to the person that Shri SPB was. The event began with a tribute by Dr. M. R. Doreswamy who spoke about the magnetic personality that Shri SPB was and how his songs, voice, modulation, and emotions have a distinct quality that has always touched the listener’s heart, and how he is a treasure none can replace. Dr. J Suryaprasad Vice-Chancellor, expressed his respect for this versatile singer who is treasured by all of India for his music and persona. The event had Dr. K. S. Shridhar, Registrar, speaking for every Indian when he said that Shri SPB will always live on in our hearts through his music.
Dr. V. Krishna, Dean of Student Affairs couldn’t have put it better when he said that we are truly blessed to have lived in the era of SPB, who is not only one of the greatest singers India has known but also a very lovable, admirable person who we all respect and look up to. This was followed by performances put together by the student clubs of PES University in honour of Shri SPB. It began with a small video put together by Through The Lens, the short-film club of PES University RR Campus that recapped the great singer’s life with video clippings about his life that had the viewers go nostalgic and heavy-hearted at the loss we face. The music clubs of PES University RR Campus and EC Campus had the viewers in trance with soulful renditions of songs by the maestro. Sanskrithi and Grooves, the dance teams of the RR Campus and HN Campus put together beautiful routines capturing all the emotions we have all felt with Shri SPB’s songs played in movies. DSGNR and Pixels, the design and photography club of PES University RR Campus put up posters and covered the event. Shraddhanjali was a nostalgic trip down the life of a man all of India will always honour, respect and love.
Dr. M R Doreswamy speaking on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi at S-VYASA University said that the entire world is paying tribute on this day to the most celebrated son of India.
On this day one needs to introspect why only Gandhi is a Mahatma while there are many individuals rendering yeomen services to the country in many wonderful professions such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers etc, His legacies of Truth and Non-violence have left a lasting imprint on the collective consciousness of human civilization.
He is a Mahatma because he got independence for the country using these twin ‘weapons’, not waging a war or with bloodshed. He was aware that violence begets violence and adopted a unique method of protest against foreign rule which was the essence of our great Indian culture. Use of peaceful non-cooperation (satyagraha), he stabilized the Independence movement for years and ultimately got independence to India.
His life was a message - a message of peace over power, of finding ways to reconcile our differences, and of living in harmony with respect and love even for our enemies. Gandhiji can be considered the most modern political thinker India has ever had. He shines like a luminous star in the galaxy of intellectuals, reformers and leaders.
Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress party from “Class party to Mass party” i.e. inclusion of all sections of society in the party he added. He recalled that “Gandhiji was telling that means is as important as end”, He also said that Gandhi's leadership role was extremely complex. Knowing that violence only begets violence, he began practicing passive resistance, Satyagraha. His achievements were nothing less than miracles.
Mahatma Gandhi was an icon of simplicity in life style – dress, food and choosing a dress of the poorest Indian, which he even wore when he went to England for the Round Table Conference in 1931 on the invitation of Winston Churchill the then Prime Minister of UK. There many social experiments he conducted as part of the independence movement; two noteworthy are the Swadeshi Movement to encourage boycott of British goods march from Dandi and the famous salt. However today, it is sad that the country is steeped in corruption, countless scams, criminal charges, self-centric and selfishness of people representatives. There is an urgent need to rediscover Gandhian principles.
Prof. Doreswamy called upon all Universities to celebrate Jayantis in a meaningful way like what S-VYASA is doing today on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and join hands with the Government’s initiative of adopting Government Schools in the State. He called upon “S-VYASA” to sign MoU with the State Government for introducing YOGA in all government schools.
Dr. H R Nagendram the Chancellor of S-VYASA University thanked Dr. M R Doreswamy for having accepted the invitation and rendering a wonderful message, befitting the occasion.. He agreed to extend full support from S-VYASA University to Government initiatives. He recalled how YOGA being introduced to WORLD from “Then Narendra (i.e. Swami Vivekananda) to Now Narendra (i.e. our Hon’ble Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji) and conceptualization of “International Yoga Day”.
Dr. B R Ramakrishna Vice-Chancellor, SVYASA University in his brief introduction of the Chief Guest Dr M R Doreswamy said that “Dr M R Doreswamy is real yogi who has contributed immensely towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat through his untiring service in the education sector. The virtues of Dama i.e Self Restraint, Dana i.e. Charity or giving and Daya i.e. Compassion are being practiced by Dr. MRD from the past five decades and in this sense he is a true yogi he added.
The current Corona Virus situation has prompted Universities to shutdown classes in the interest of safety of students.
The University in its bid to utilize the situation constructively is beaming classroom teaching live for students to access the same from their place of stay since Monday March 16, 2020.
The University put in place a special time table covering 8 teaching sessions in a day each of 40 minutes duration across all courses. The schedule is shared with students so that they are informed on the subject and the teacher teaching the subject. The recorded version of the class is also made available to the student by the end of the day. This helps students to have a relook at the content delivered for better understanding and also serves those students who would have missed the live session.
This initiative of the University has been well received by the students with over 80% of students accessing to live / recorded sessions of the classes conducted.
The team of Araz Sharma, Rudra Prasad Baksi and Shamanth R Rao, made it to the Top 5 of the IEEE India COVID MOVE Hackathon Challenge Edition 2. The 48hr online was open to individuals and teams from industry, startups and academia including students from India. The team’s solution addressing the challenge of Remote Access to Education won the fourth prize competing against 62 submissions. The team presented a solution for reducing the amount of data required to access online video lectures enabling access to the educational video even with low bandwidth. Their approach involved extracting audio separately and taking snapshots of video leading to 50 – 70% less data being used with the learning content intact. The major outcome expected from this hackathon is for a design solution that is scalable, faster and easily replicable to cater to the current global need. Araz, Rudra Prasad and Shamanth are students of 4th semester of computer science. IEEE India COVID MOVE Online Hackathon Challenge - Edition 2 was held from April 17-19, 2020.
PES University nurtures academic excellence among students by identifying and rewarding meritorious students every semester. Prof CNR Rao Merit scholarship and Dr MRD Merit Scholarship for Aug-Dec 2019 semester were announced at an impressive ceremony. The meritorious students were felicitated by distinguished guests, Mr Sameer Garde, President Cisco- India and SAARC and Mr Mohan Sekhar, Senior Managing Director and Lead, Advanced Technology Centers in India, Accenture. 195 students were awarded Prof CNR Rao Scholarships of nearly Rs. 60 lakhs. 1,457 students received Dr MRD Merit Scholarships amounting to Rs. 4 crore 70 lakhs. 2713 students won distinction awards of close to Rs 27 lakhs.
Prof CNR Rao Merit Scholarships are awarded to top 2% of students in all programs of study for scoring cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 9 and above. The scholars get a tuition fee waiver to the tune of 25% for the subsequent year. Dr MRD Scholarships are awarded to top 20% of students for securing semester grade point average (SGPA) of 8.5 and above. Distinction awards are received by students securing an SGPA of more than 7.75.
The special message sent by Prof CNR Rao wishing the meritorious students a great future in whatever they choose to do, was read out on the occasion. Prof D Jawahar, Pro Chancellor, in his address, recollected the first scholarship award function, by the PES institution a few decades back, which was Rs five hundred each for twenty eight students. That was the beginning of the tradition of awarding scholarships which has reached an amount of Rs 10 crores this year. He looked forward to realising the vision of seeing PES University as rated as one among the top ten universities of the country within the next five years. He believed that the achievements of the students have a large role to play in achieving the goal. Mr Sameer Garde reminisced about scoring 10 grade points as an undergraduate and shared his thoughts about the life and career ahead for the students. He felt that doing what the heart tells and focusing one’s energy on the journey can make a career fulfilling. He observed that and as a professional the ideas one comes up with are key to becoming a leader. The year 2020, according to him marks the dawn of a new era in technology and termed the present time and future, especially for the students as magical. Mr Mohan Sekhar admired the role of PES University in preparing the students for professional careers, specifically the initiative to familiarise the students with new technologies like machine learning and AI, irrespective of the branches of study. He was happy to see large number of girls winning awards especially when diversity is a key focus area for the industry. Speaking of the expectations of the industry, he highlighted the importance of customer focus, innovation and effective communication. He felt that innovation is at the heart of everything that’s happening in the industry. He appreciated the university’s setting up of an advanced gym on campus as staying physically active he felt, is no less important.
Dr J Suryaprasad Vice Chancellor in his opening remarks introduced the guests. Dr K Sridhar, Registrar delivered the vote of thanks. The auditorium was abuzz with activity as 4365 students received the cheques and merit certificates.
Students got an opportunity to watch the acclaimed documentary Wild Karnataka on large screen. The audience took pride in the fact that one of the film-makers was Kalyan Varma, mechanical engineering graduate of 2001 batch of PES University. Over 1200 students enjoyed the beautiful visuals and never-seen-before perspective on the wildlife of Karnataka. The screening was organised by Pixels Photography club on Feb 11, 2020.
The tenth annual intercollegiate techno cultural fest Maaya 2019 with the theme Auro of Lights saw more than 2500 students participating in 31events and contests. The participants showcased their talent in technical, literary, fine arts, cultural and sports fields. Students from PESU RR, DCSE, Christ, RVCE, BMSCE and 35 other colleges competed in the contests judged by top notch experts in the concerned field. The festival of talent was inaugurated with the hoisting of the flag of Karnataka followed by the lighting of the ceremonial lamp. Former Chief Justice of Karnataka High court Mr. Nagmohan Das, actress Sawathi Nayak, Aniketh Jain, CEO Kalera and Dr. J. Surya Prasad, Director PES University EC Campus graced the occasion. An audience of more than 5000 witnessed the elaborate and spectacular extravaganza over the two days. Creative team of Maaya 2019 curated the events and contests which were appreciated by the visitors many of whom captured the memory in selfies. This was the first opportunity for the visitors to experience the amazing PESU EC Auditorium. Girish and Chronicles band and DJ sponsored by MTV Beats and VH1 enthralled the crowd. The10th annual intercollegiate techno cultural fest Maaya 2019 organised by PES University Electronic city campus was held on Nov 15-16 2019.