Editor : Sankalpa Venkatraghavan
With the new academic year kicking off, a plethora of activities and competitions have been planned to engage students in a range of topics from Arts and Sports to Deep Learning and Stock Market predictions. One such iconic competition that caters exclusively to students within our sprawling campus is the inter-hostel TechSoc competition. Undoubtedly one of the hardest competitions in terms of technical skill, it promises to challenges one’s situational thinking and speed of solving problems.
What is TechSoc all about?
TechSoc is the annual inter-hostel rolling championship consisting of a series of competitions that are held around the academic year, based on technology for solving problems. TechSoc was introduced in 2006 to nurture, develop and rekindle the flame of the tech atmosphere in all the hostels of the institute. Spanning throughout the academic year, teams from various hostels battle among each other for the ultimate tech glory and gain the highest number of TechSoc points for their respective hostels. Not only does it create a tough competitive environment, it highlights the institute’s technological acumen and enthusiasm for innovation.
How does the scoring system work?
Points are awarded to those hostels whose teams perform the best in each event. The maximum points are awarded to the winners, followed by the second and third highest points to the two subsequent runners-up hostels respectively. The hostel that accumulates the highest number of points at the end of the year is crowned Winner of TechSoc and lifts the TechSoc rolling trophy. With a range of difficulty in problems and participation from across departments, it promises to engage and challenge all.
Who decides these challenges and formulates them?
The various events that fall under TechSoc are ideated upon by the heads of various clubs in CFI, Center For Innovation. Under the stewardship of the Co-Curricular Affairs Secretary and the CFI head, these events are then finalised. The Project Management team of CFI comes out with the CFI calendar at the beginning of each academic year and the dates of these events are usually decided then. The formulation of questions and subsequent logistics involved, such as the invigilation process during the event and paper correction is handled by the coordinators and heads of the respective clubs. Each event usually has about two rounds – a preliminary round with a turnout of about 100-200 and a final round.
Some of the TechSoc events of this semester are*:
- Reverse Coding
- 3D Modelling
- SciBizTech Quiz
- Brain-Squeeze
- Sahaay-Snet Collab
- Game development(Envisage)
- Manual Robotics
- Astro Quiz
We were the TechSoc champions 2 years ago. The narrow margins of victory, the thrill of reaching the finals and the joy of holding the rolling trophy in your hands – all of these make for indelible memories. We will give it our all this year and ensure maximum participation – Godavari Technical Affairs Secretary
Excerpts from the previous CFI annual report say that The race for TechSoc 2018-19 trophy began with Reverse Coding. The Online Programming contest, the Observation session with the Horizon club, The Astro Hackathon, The Analytics Challenge and the flagship event – The Delivery Drone Challenge all saw an amazing turnout with the Tapti Eagles bagging first place.
The past year saw more TechSoc events such as The Celestial Hunters, Brainsqueeze, and a 3D Modelling event. There was also a TechSoc talk where students presented their work and had the chance to interact with professors from different departments.
The Godavari Technical Affairs Secretary adds that “The competitive environment often brings out those qualities that you hitherto didn’t know existed. Often, industry sponsors and startups such as Detect provide internship opportunities at their firms if they identify you as the winner of a TechSoc event. Companies that aren’t open for certain branches open their doors to you when they identify your individual strength in that field, such as programming. “
Making your own robot or writing a program from scratch doesn’t just bring happiness to the owner but can also add to one’s resume. TechSoc can also be a great avenue for juniors to interact with experienced seniors to gain technical skills. Overall, it’s a great avenue to learn new skills and win your hostel some points while you’re at it.
TechSoc events are interspersed through the semester, what’s to lose in checking them out? You might just end up discovering a new passion!
*Tentatively scheduled
All images have been sourced from the TechSoc Facebook Page.
Suggestions/ comments are always welcome. Please email them to [email protected].
