CONSORTIA – Transforming minds, Translating Ideas-An Intercollegiate Biotechnology Fest organized by the Biotechnology Department of Pillai College
CONSORTIA – The Intercollegiate Biotechnology fest was organized by the Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Association for the UG and PG students of Biotechnology on 18th February, 2020 in the campus of Pillai college, New Panvel. The fest was organized with the goal of providing a platform to the students of biotechnology for exchanging ideas and showcasing their extraordinary talents and skills. The events were organized with an aim to inculcate research culture in the young minds, helping them to create their own learning experiences and innovations, just as scientists do in the real world.
The program unfolded with the inauguration by the Chief Guest for the event-Dr. Mansee Thakur, I/c Director & Asso. Prof. (Biotechnology). MGM School of Biomedical Sciences, Navi Mumbai. She has completed her PhD in Medical Biotechnology and has been associated with MGM Institute of Health Sciences since the past 10 years as the Head of the Department for M.Sc. Medical Biotechnology. Currently her thrust area of research is to develop a handheld MGM-TB Detection System (MGM-TBDS) in service of India and is actively working to understand the mechanisms and toxicity studies for various nanoparticles.
The program was set in motion by the first event that was organized which was called ‘Catch Phrase’. In this event, the students had to participate in a pair where one participant reads a name, phrase or process and the other participant in the pair will try to guess the clue. The twist was introduced when it was told that the conveyor could use all other words than the actual name, phrase or process. This game took all the brainstorming one could put in.
The next event organized was called ‘Picsophilic’. In this game, the participating students would be tested on their photography and creative skills. The theme given was ‘FRIENDSHIP’. The students had to participate individually, and a theme or topic would be disclosed to them then and there. The participants had to click pictures that best depicted or described the topic given and they would be judged on the showcasing of their skills. The Judge for the Event was Mrs. Akshata Narkar who has a master’s degree in mass communication and Journalism and used to work as a Project Manager in an advertising firm before she took teaching to be her full-time profession.
The third program organized was called as ‘Biorangoli’. The students had participated in pairs and had to make and present their Rangoli on the theme given to them on an area allotted consized to 1m×1m. This could be put as the most artistic, innovative and creative event for the day as the themes given to them were Ecology and Physiology. The judge for this event was Prof. Vidya Mohd who has completed her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the Department of Life Sciences, North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon and has a teaching experience of almost 12 years. She was the Coordinator for the Department of Biotechnology in Vispute College for 2 years and is currently working as the Vice Principal in Vispute College.
The fourth event for the day was ‘Labathon’ in which also a team of two students had to participate and were given different Laboratory based tasks which had to be completed one after the other. The team which manages to complete all the tasks with perfect technique in the shortest possible time would be declared as the winners of the task. Here, all the years of hard work and technique perfection of the students was put to test.
The final event for the day was ‘Luck Ladder’ in which the event was even more amusing than what its name suggests. Here, the students had to participate in a team of three people. This game could be called as ‘A twisted version of Snakes and Ladders’ as each step consists of a twist in the form of a question. One player from each group would perform on the field and not more than a minute would be given to each contestant to answer the questions. If the question had not been answered, a task was given to the group to perform which could be nicknamed as ‘lifelines’ in the game. After the number 70 on the board, the option of lifelines was taken away and all that was left was answering the asked questions. A ladder would take you ahead without a question and a snake would take you down from wherever you stood. The first team to reach the number 100 would win the game.
After the concluding of all these games, the students that had participated and won were rewarded with certificates and cash prize. That’s how another beautiful and fruitful day had come to its end.