By this far in our series, you do already know that AnC council exists to provide you with guidance and support in exploring different dimensions of academics. However, if that’s not something that excites you and your aspirations lie in ideation and building creative solutions through technology, our next council might be just for you.
In Talk with Mudit Agrawal (GenSec, SnT Council)
“My first interaction with SnT came during SnT foyer in orientation. Several cool projects on display like rovers and even a race car, and I quickly decided to attend all the introductory sessions. Although the projects we made were actually simple, building my own project and coding, felt really intriguing. I took a small break from the clubs due to acads, but when Takneek was organized, I participated in it, and it was an experience I would never forget. I went on and took part in Summer Camp by SnT, where I made a replica of the model that won us the Inter-IIT Gold!
Most of you would have been fascinated after seeing IIT life after 3 Idiots. While the acads are more theoretical-based and even labs sometimes tend to be restrictive, projects conducted by various clubs and teams are fun and directly touch ground-reality. We work on real-life problem statements and create industry-ready solutions for them. You can implement crazy ideas that come to your mind and be the Phunsukh Wangdu.
Another stand-out point of SnT is that you meet with several people well-versed in different fields and many who are new and filled with energy to learn and try new things. You even get more career opportunities as associated companies sometimes hire a project they like. If you are interested in research, then the respective club would give you the best exposure. The group you make keeps you constantly updated with new developments and multiply the brainstorming. And of course, there is no other experience than representing your institute at national and international levels.
SnT caters to all sorts of needs. For limited exposures, there are summer and winter camps. For more extensive exposures, there are clubs and societies. Teams work more extensively towards a particular development/problem statement for adding value at international grounds.
I would just advise the new batch to participate in something or the other in any Gymkhana activity and try to transition to ambivert if you are an introvert. Because of the true flavor of college life is created by the community.”
The Structure
SnT council is headed by General Secretary, SnT who is elected in the general elections. Each club/society/team has a group of coordinators in charge of its events and functioning, further succeeded by a group of secretaries. All the students of IITK are members of all the clubs by default.
1. Clubs and Societies
There are a total of seven clubs and five societies to cater to a variety of interests, working on several pre-planned projects and new ideas.
Aeromodelling Club
Since its inception in 2006, Aeromodelling Club has created and improved several kinds of aircraft ranging from ornithopter to their latest VTOL, Tailsitter. They have excelled at several international competitions, including SAE Aero(USA). They have even created composite aircraft for DRDO. The club is currently working on its second VTOL, Quadplane, and also fabricating composite material and using it to scale down modern combat military aircraft. They are also working towards the development of an autonomous ornithopter.
Astronomy Club
Everyone has undoubtedly gazed at the endless night sky and wondered how genuinely fantastic the universe is. The Astronomy Club was made for every such wonderer who waits hours waiting for Jupiter and Saturn’s perfect alignment. The Astronomy Club conducts various talks and shows on many celestial bodies and events. The Observatory for Astronomical Research (OAAR) helps give hands-on skills and knowledge to all.
Brain and Cognitive Society
Made for the ones who are always inquisitive about the human brain and neurotech, The Brain & Cognitive Society aims to study Brain Science to reverse engineer human intelligence to create better AI. Their work touches various fields like cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and computational cognition via several projects and talks.
DesCon Society
The Design and Construction group teaches designing, constructing, and analyzing several structures like Popsicle Bridge and Spaghetti Bridge. Students design their own structures via software and construct them themselves. They always come up with incredible and equally beautiful designs and models of many architectural wonders.
Electronics Club
Doing anything and everything about electronics, Electronics Club innovates several cool projects around the year and trains students in basic electronics as well as advanced skills and even the latest research papers. Their motto “Innovation, Imagination, and Application” perfectly captures their work.
Finance and Analytics Club
Crossover of Economics and Analytics, Finance and Analytics Club helps junta understand fundamental financial statements to very advanced fintech topics via regular sessions including speeches from guest speakers from leading companies and several projects throughout the year. The club provides an in-depth experience of the financial nuances.
Game Development Society
While gaming culture is very prevalent in IITK, The Game Development Society brings you close to understanding how those games are and then designing them yourself. They work on creating a variety of games, and as they say, there is always one for everyone. They design the game, make the plotline as well as code it.
IITK Consulting Group
A team that gives expert advice to organizations working in a professional or technical field based on some data or information about the problem given to them. They have done several projects for various organizations and have been successful at them. Their research work has been recognized by multiple international conferences.
Programming Club
Programming is an indispensable art, and for the beginners out there, the Programming Club tries to provide a platform to learn, understand, and work on several projects. There are introductory lectures and workshops, customized projects, and many hackathons in App Development, Machine Learning to Hacking & Algorithm development, and Competitive programming.
Robotics Club
Robotics – the go-to word for modern technology. As the world inches closer to achieving the Sci-Fi fantasies, Robotics Club lays a perfect platform for exploring this exciting new field with a huge scope of imagination. They work on all the aspects of robotics including electrical, mechanical, and software development. Along with creating several fascinating projects and bots, they also participate in several competitions and are known to excel.
Science Coffee House
Ever wondered what exactly the famous String theory is? Or how could life be on Mars? The Science Coffee House is a group of scientific thinkers who conduct talks and discussions on several interesting topics from various science branches from Philosophy to Physics.
Speedcubing Club
It is fun playing around with Rubik’s cube to figure out how exactly it works or see strange-looking mirror cube solves as a perfect cube. And this pass-time of many is a sport in IITK. Speedcubing Club teaches several types of cubes across the year and conducts various camps and competitions making speedcubing an electrifying experience.
2. SnT Teams
There are seven student teams that are envisioned to represent the institute at various national and international platforms. They are the core hub that fosters all student-based research and development envisioned to bring glory to the campus.
Team Aerial Robotics IITK
Team Aerial Robotics work on developing autonomous drones capable of performing localization, navigation, and many other missions. They plan to soon bring it out to the industry. They also have a rich history at Inter-IITs with 3rd, runner-ups and the only winners at 6th, 7th, and 8th Inter-IIT respectively. They have also participated at IMAV(Madrid). This year, they aim to participate in the International Aerial Robotics Competitions while working on some industrially relevant side projects.
Team AUV-IITK
Team AUV-IITK aims at developing an autonomous underwater vehicle capable of performing a set of tasks underwater from marker dropping, buoy detection to torpedo firing and surveillance. The team consists of four subsystems which are Software, Electrical, Mechanical, and Business. All four subsystems are interdependent and work together. So far they have built two vehicles namely “Varun” and “Anahita”. In the NIOT-SAVe 2017, 2019 by the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, they stood first runners-up. Now they are aiming at International Competitions like SAUVC-Singapore and RoboSub-San Diego, California.
Team ERA IITK
Team ERA works on developing intelligent solutions for implementing autonomous robotics and fabricating & realizing autonomous robots for different AI-empowered Robotics challenges worldwide. They are a relatively new team and were awarded the 3rd Category Award in their first participation in IEEE ICRA DJI Robomaster Challenge in Montreal, Canada. Their problem statement is developing a swarm system for battle against a similar system.
Team Humanoid
Humanoids are the ‘face’ of robotics. IITK’s Team Humanoid is developing a fully functional Humanoid robot and has built two prototypes based on bipedal walking – Automi and Darwin. They were the only team from India to qualify for the coveted FIRA HuroCup, held in South Korea in 2019. The team is currently developing a simulation workspace tailored to provide an optimal testing ground for our software frameworks and constantly improving upon the bots’ functionalities. They also have sub-teams devoted to developing software modules like localization and obstacle avoidance and the design of pneumatic limbs and are now working on making the bot fully autonomous.
Team IITK Motorsports
IITK Motorsports has a vision – “Design & Build a Race Car”. They have four divisions, formula-style racing cars, all-terrain vehicles, electric vehicles, and efficient vehicles, with the last two are formed for the first time this year. The first formula racing car they built, participated, and performed decently in Formula Student Italy in September 2013. Since then they have come a long way, participated in several competitions around the nation, and brought pride to the institute. Their last vehicle, the B19, was an all-terrain vehicle that secured 13th position in the MegaATV Championship. They are currently working to participate in the Shell Eco-Marathon and build their first formula electric vehicle for participation in Formula Bharat 2021.
Team VISiON
IITK’s Intelligent Ground Vehicles Challenge team, VISiON works on creating fully autonomous ground vehicles. In their first attempt at IGVC(USA), they secured the 5th position in the Design Category(2018) while in their second attempt(2019), they got ranks across three categories and were overall 2nd in the competition. They are now planning to participate in NASA’s Space Robotics Challenge.
Team ZURA IITK
Attention all ‘Real Steel’ fans, ZURA works on fighter robots and participates in brutal ‘Robowars’. IIT Kanpur has a great history of participating in such competitions throughout the nation, hence the team was created last year to focus on the same. Although the team is new, IITKs legacy makes sure that they are well experienced.
Inter IIT Tech Meet
When several premier technology institutes compete in a wide range of innovation challenges, the result is always breathtaking. The aim is to address at least a few of the nation’s many problems and work collectively to achieve the goal faster and more effectively.
Inter-IIT Tech Meets are extremely competitive events with every club, society, and team fighting for glory. There is extreme buzz and brainstorming sessions happening all around. Several novel ideas pop up, and many are even adopted by the industry. Although the event lasts almost a week, the preparation is carried throughout the year.
IITK has a very rich legacy with three overall First-Position finishes in the 8 editions. We were 4th in 2018 while 3rd in 2019. We have also hosted the meet two times. IIT Kanpur holds high dignity at the Inter IIT Tech Meet and with IIT Guwahati being the host of the 9th Inter IIT Tech Meet this year, we have buckled up to perform our best.
Written by Aryan Mundada and Dhruv Chhabra
