Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 24: To create a culture of engineering at school level, Jodhamal Public School organized ICARUS-24: A Drone War Competition, the first of it’s kind drone challenge being organized in any school of the Country.
Six teams Ajax (comprising Vihaan Puri, Aaditya Sambyal, Rohan Langer, Vidhi and Manya Randhawa), Udaan (comprising Pavit Singh, Atharv Jain, Rajveer Singh, Divyam Dewan, Japtej Singh and Advit Singh), Matrix (comprising Devesh Arora, Ranvijay Singh, Jai Karan, Krishiv Gupta and Kridey Mahajan), Aeroflight (comprising Aarav Thakur, Sehjot Singh, Suryanarayan, Evan Arora, Vihaan Mahajan and Manan Suri), and Pawanputra (comprising Aarav Handoo, Paarth Bharti, Dhairya Gupta, Avni Sharma and Jigisha Thusoo) and Aeolus (comprising Jeniya Gupta, Jayendra, Swarit Charak, Arham Chopra, Aryan Nahar and Sambhav), a total of 33 students participated in keenly contested technical rounds of drones in the air.
There were multiple rounds of PIT Display, Knockout Races, Drone Presentation, Reaction Races etc. All in all, the event saw an enthusiastic participation of young scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs who had themselves assembled these flying objects, buzzing overhead in the huge MPH of the school.
The overall winners of the ICARUS-24 was team Udaan whereas the event-wise winners were Team Aeolus in the Event Knockout Race, Pawanputra in the Event Team Identity, and Ajax in the Event Pit Display, Matrix in Project Management whereas team Aeroflight got the verbal mention of appreciation.
The Special Guest on the occasion was Yashraj, CEO, STEMplify, and Judges were Dr Rajkumar Velu, Assistant Professor, IIT, Jammu and the Research Associate at the Centre for Laser Aided Intelligent Manufacturing (CLAIM), University of Michigan, USA, Ayush Sharma, an Engineer, Manager, and an experienced mention in capacity building in UAS and Drone Technologies at IIT Jammu, Kirti Mathuria, a Research Fellow under the SERB project for Capacity Building for Human Resource Development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drone and Related Technology) at IIT Jammu and Ankit Dubey, a distinguished mentor from IIT Jammu. The dignitaries and all Judges felicitated the winners of the event.
The School is known for its culture of innovation and a sturdy STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education. School’s Innovation Hub takes pride in the achievements of its students, some of whom have already achieved British and Indian Patents for their innovative ideas and prototypes, one of them is the recipient of the most prestigious Pradhan Mantri Bal Puruskar bestowed by Prime Minister of India. These budding scientists have also been felicitated by NASA, ISRO, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA), Caltech (California Institute of Technology, USA) for their inclination in the scientific pursuits.
Girish Kumar, Principal shared that ICARUS-24 provided students a holistic platform not only to experiment with the scientific technology, but also to budget, seek sponsorships, design the merchandise and pitch their products.
Trustee of the school, Nandan Kuthiala shared that the school’s thrust on technology lies in the centre of the School’s progressive vision, and students are given opportunities to explore and experiment.