Day One sees high-voltage student innovations, industry dialogues, and automotive displays under the theme ‘Strands of Eternity”.
Gandhinagar, Nov 1: The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) kicked off the 17th edition of its annual student-run technical summit, Amalthea ’26, on Saturday. Students, academics, business experts, and tech enthusiasts participated in displays, competitions, talks, and interactive sessions during the two-day event with the theme "Strands of Eternity."
Shri H S Jattana, Expert from Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Chandigarh; Deputy Director, IITGN; Prof Bhaskar Datta, Dean of Academic Affairs, IITGN; and Prof Sameer Dalvi graced the opening ceremony. The flagship Tech Expo was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting by Major General AK Mohla, General Officer Commanding (GOC), 11 RAPID (H).
The Tech Expo featured innovations and demonstrations by the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), IITGN’s Robotics Lab, Quantum Materials and Devices Group, Kapidhwaj AI, Maker Bhavan, Centre for Creative Learning (CCL), PlaceStation, ATSN AI, InsideHunt, LingoLabs, arnobots, PrimeUAV, amongst others. The Auto Expo attracted visitors with a display of vehicles including Land Rover, Ford Roadster, Morris Minor, BMW M2, Fiat Select, Ford Mustang, Nissan Jonga and Mercedes W.
During his visit Major General Mohla interacted with students and discussed the requirements of the Indian defense forces and how innovation can address real world problems. He urged students to come up with solutions that make sense for the users and the application. He also stressed the importance of cooperation between the armed forces, universities and industry to take innovative ideas from the prototype stage and convert them into useful products ready for the market.
“Yesterday’s solutions are also today’s problems, it is important to translate innovation to practical outcomes,” he said. There are good ideas and there are better innovations, but if they don’t reach the public they are useless. “Innovations must be commercialized to have a meaningful impact.”
Emphasising the importance of translating innovation into practical outcomes, he said, “Yesterday’s solutions are also today’s problems. There are good ideas and better innovations, but if they do not reach the public, they are of no use. Innovations must be commercialised to have a meaningful impact.”
The Open Day offered an opportunity for visitors to experience IITGN's research through demonstrations by laboratories and student researchers working in fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, maritime engineering, smart chemical sensing, and power electronics.
The Boeing National Aeromodelling Competition saw participation from over 130 teams, with the first attempts ending successfully on Day One. The keynote address was given by Ayush Kumar, Founder of the Indian Inter-College Programming Contest (IICPC), followed by the IICPC Hackathon. The day also included Bushido esports competitions in BGMI, Free Fire and Rocket League, along with technical competitions such as Maze Runner, FlowDynamics, Citython, and RC Racing Roborace.
The Semiconductor Conclave and Symposium brought together experts to discuss semiconductor research, careers in semiconductor fabrication, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) materials, and electronics manufacturing.
“To build a successful career in semiconductors, you need broad, T-shaped knowledge across device design, manufacturing, packaging and customer needs before you go deep into one speciality,” said Dr Vinay Sharma, Principal Engineer, TATA Electronics, on the knowledge and skills needed to build a career in the semiconductor sector. He also emphasised the need for supporting infrastructure, such as ultra-pure water, uninterrupted power, and local chemical supply chains.
Dr Nagendra Prasad, Co-Founder & CEO, Indinano Technologies Pvt. Ltd., highlighted the need to develop indigenous semiconductor materials and said, “Localising semiconductor materials such as CMP slurries in India is not only about demonstrating supply-chain resilience and providing fast technical support, but also about proving that indigenous products can meet global manufacturing standards.” Vishal Tejwani, with Electronics Prototyping & Manufacturing, highlighted the role of accessible tabletop assembly equipment in supporting hardware startups, saying, “Tabletop electronics assembly tools can enable local startups to rapidly prototype and build right here.”
The conclave concluded with Shri H. S. Jattana, Expert at the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Chandigarh, speaking about India’s self-reliance in semiconductor technology. He highlighted SCL’s efforts to develop its own manufacturing equipment and said, “The primary role of SCL is to ensure the technological autonomy of the country. Developing defence and military applications, such as radiation-hardened electronics, is our utmost priority.” He also encouraged students to explore analog and RF design, where India needs more skilled professionals.
Prof Amit Prashant, Dean, External Relations, IITGN discussed opportunities for greater collaboration between educational institutions, students and industry. “If we work together and share ideas, there are opportunities for innovation and to move ideas from prototype to practical application. This requires more research, technical support and industry collaboration” he said.
Day Two, on November 1, will feature the Tech Expo and Auto Expo, the remaining rounds of the Boeing National Aeromodelling Competition, and the Bushido esports finals. Other scheduled events include Wire to Win, Brainwiz’s offline round, Bridge-a-thon, Pathfinder, Prompts to Profits, NetZero, and the Game Jam Exhibition, where participants will showcase games developed over ten days. The day will also conclude with musical performances by DJ Kabir, followed by a Bollywood set by Ajitanshu and an EDM performance by DJ Rihya.
