BITSology: Exploring All the Latest Trends on Campus BITSology: Exploring All the Latest Trends on Campus

In The Spotlight

Open Day 2024

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus commemorated its 20th Anniversary by welcoming over 1500 school and college students to the campus – visitors witnessed latest research, prototypes, installations.

To mark the culmination of 20 years, the K.K. Birla Goa Campus hosted its 3rd Open Day in November. The Open Day was attended by over 1500 students from various schools, higher secondary schools and colleges from across Goa. Students and teachers were welcomed by Prof. Suman Kundu, Director and Prof. Meenal Kowshik, Dean Administration, along with other senior faculty and staff members. This was an exceptional opportunity for visitors to witness the educational ecosystem of BITS Pilani.

All the departments on the campus showcased and presented their latest research and other achievements through posters, models, demonstrations, installations, prototypes and much more. Various student clubs of the Institute, which include SEDS Celestia, Project Einsat, Society of Automotive Engineers, Aerodynamics Club, Electronics and Robotics Club, Project Kratos and many others, also showcased their innovations, projects and creations. The visitors were impressed by the educational ecosystem and got a feel of the research, teaching and innovation that is being groomed in BITS Goa.

The exhibitions included information about biological systems, the chemistry of colours, fluorescence and reaction kinetics. Exciting quizzes and games were held to test the knowledge of how the legendary mathematicians shaped the world of mathematics. Thrilling demonstrations of fundamental physics concepts through interactive experiments kept the visitors on their feet, as well as going through the prototype of a chemical industry. Students also witnessed a design analysis software and robot demo, a car driving simulator and how a spider bot, 4-legged robot, 8-bit computer, rover and snake bot work. A quick visit to the climate change lab, sea traffic lab and media lab showcased the wide variety of research opportunities BITS has to offer.

"Click here to watch the highlights of this remarkable event and experience the energy and innovation showcased on Open Day!"

BITS Exclusive

BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus Inspires the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow at YEB 2024

Dubai, UAE: The 7th edition of the Young Entrepreneurs Bootcamp (YEB) 2024 concluded successfully, reaffirming its status as a premier platform for fostering entrepreneurial talent among high school students. Hosted by BITS Pilani Dubai Campus (BPDC), the event welcomed around 50 students from Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and India, immersing them in a transformative week of innovation, mentorship, and competition.

The week-long bootcamp culminated in a thrilling finale showcasing innovative projects with social impact. Winning teams included:

  • Ventratech: Portable ventilators addressing gaps in underserved healthcare facilities.
  • ScamSniffer: An app protecting users from online scams.
  • Guardian Echo: A device enhancing vocal clarity for older people while integrating emergency alert systems.

The program featured diverse activities, such as workshops on business model development, AI-driven solutions, and leadership. Participants also engaged in sessions on business ethics, intellectual property rights, and customer engagement, while BPDC’s social clubs offered creative and collaborative opportunities.

"BITS Students: From Geeks to Game-Changers”

Student Spotlight

Shreyansh Sharma

We are proud to share the remarkable achievement of Shreyansh Sharma, a 3rd-year B.Tech, Chemical Engineering student at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, who represented India at WorldSkills Lyon 2024 in Lyon, France, in Chemical Laboratory Technology skill.

This was India's debut participation in this skill category, and Shreyansh secured an impressive 6th International Rank after achieving 1st National Rank at India Skills 2024, organized by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

WorldSkills is often referred to as the “Olympics of Skills”, bringing together over 1400 competitors from 70+ countries every two years. The 47th edition of this prestigious event, hosted in France, was the third-largest event in the country after the Olympics and Paralympics. It was inaugurated by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, highlighting the global significance of the competition.

Shreyansh's exceptional performance not only brought pride to the nation but also showcased the capabilities and talent emerging from the Chemical Engineering Department, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus.

Stars of Versatility

One of our remarkable students, Raaghav Paharia, has earned widespread recognition for his achievements in music. Nominated as the Best Emerging Hip Hop Artist of the Year by The Indian Music Diaries Awards in April 2024, Raaghav was recognized for his album Kaagaz Ke Phool. The album, which explores themes of hope and vulnerability, resonated with audiences and amassed over 10,000 global plays.

Raaghav’s talent extends beyond recordings, as he performed at renowned events such as Spitdope Delhi, BCG Mumbai, Ghettoverse, and the Bargaam Tour, taking his music to audiences nationwide. Additionally, he won Episode 3 of India’s Got Latent, a unique talent show by Samay Raina, where his song Andhkaar earned him a score of 8, securing the prize money.

Raaghav’s versatility and dedication to his craft make him an inspiring figure for all.

Conquest 2024: Celebrating 20 Years of Empowering Indian Startups

Conquest, BITS Pilani's pioneering student-run startup accelerator, successfully concluded its 20th edition, reinforcing its status as India's largest initiative of its kind. The program operates on a unique zero-cost, zero-equity model and has supported numerous startups over two decades, including notable successes like Atlan and Thinkerbell Labs.

This edition kicked off at "The Circle Work" in Gurgaon with a Launch Mixer that featured an inspiring fireside chat with Rakesh Verma, founder of MapmyIndia. This event marked the opening of registrations and set a vibrant tone for the program. Following the launch, Conquest entered a dynamic online phase where over 3,000 applications were narrowed down to 30 selected startups.

This phase included mentorship sessions and insightful discussions with industry leaders such as Phalgun Kompalli and Dr. Trivikram Thampy, focusing on building sustainable businesses. In August, the program transitioned to an engaging offline phase in Bangalore, featuring networking events and mixers that fostered collaboration among founders, mentors, and investors.

The week culminated in a thrilling Demo Day, where 14 startups pitched their innovative ideas in a Shark Tank-style format for equity-free grants totalling ₹24 lakhs. Key winners included Angirus IND and Prodancy Pvt Ltd. Overall, this edition achieved remarkable milestones with over 120 hours of mentorship and $300K+ in resource credits awarded. As Conquest 2024 wraps up, it sets an exciting stage for its next edition in 2025, promising to elevate Indian startups further.

BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus students win big at blockchain competition

BlockSoc members from the Hyderabad campus participated in a blockchain development competition, Code: The Chain Hackathon and Innovation Challenge, held in October 2024 by Dojima Network.

The members showcased their expertise and innovative problem-solving skills by addressing complex blockchain challenges and designing cutting-edge solutions for the Omnichain Framework. We are proud to announce the following teams and their innovative projects, which earned recognition for their exceptional contributions:

  • Ravi Koundilya and Srinath Murali: ORID Rollup – A novel Layer 2 solution designed to optimize transaction throughput and reduce costs while ensuring robust security.
  • Shree Suswaagatam Sarkar: Omnichain Loyalty Program – A system enabling interoperable loyalty points across multiple blockchain networks.
  • Sujal Chopra: Omnichain Betting Platform – A transparent and decentralized betting platform leveraging Omnichain technology for global accessibility.
  • Sanchit Rathi and Shivansh Singhal: Multi-Chain Gaming Hub – A cross-chain platform that integrates blockchain-based gaming assets and experiences under one ecosystem.
  • Tushya Jain and Aneesh PJ: NFT Valuation Tool – An AI-powered solution for accurately assessing the value of NFTs across different markets and blockchains.

Each team was awarded 110 USDT (approximately ₹10,000 ) by Dojima Network for their working models and to work on their projects. These achievements reflect the growing expertise and dedication of BlockSoc members, reaffirming the society's status as a hub for blockchain innovation on the Hyderabad campus. We hope these successes inspire more students to delve into the exciting field of blockchain technology.

Research Stories

When culture meets technology: Students develop a model to classify dance poses

Meet a team of three students: Aditya Agarwal, Ojas Jain and Parth Jha, who, under the guidance of Dr. Asish Bera, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, proposed a custom image classification model designed using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), named POA-Net. The team, inspired by the diversity of dance poses around the world, developed a computer vision model for diverse dance pose classification.

The model was rigorously tested on multiple image datasets, including Dance-20, Dance-12, and Dance-8, (which are new dance-specific datasets which the students believe will contribute greatly to future activity classification research) and u-Radar. It was found that POA-Net outperformed VGG-16 and Inception-v3 in terms of accuracy, and it demonstrated competitive results close to MobileNet-v2 and surpassed all other models on the u-Radar dataset. The research was later presented at the IEEE TENSYMP-2024 conference in Delhi, and it was subsequently published on IEEE Xplore.

We extend our congratulations to these bright students and Dr. Asish Bera, who instilled the power of innovation and creativity. We are also ecstatic to witness research being carried out by students inspired by cultural diversity, and we hope this inspires students to pursue their interests in their academic pursuits.

Faculty Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight

Celebrating Alumni Excellence: Narinder J. Singh

Narinder J. Singh, a distinguished alumnus of BITS Pilani (M.Sc. (Hons.) Physics, 1975-1980), has been honoured with the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award for Entrepreneurship by XLRI Xavier Institute of Management. A seasoned technology entrepreneur and investor, Narinder has built an illustrious career by founding and scaling start-ups to achieve global success. His most notable accomplishment is co-founding Utopia Global, Inc., a worldwide leader in enterprise data management solutions, which became an SAP Software Solution Extension partner and served Fortune 100 companies. Utopia grew to over 650 employees and expanded across North America, Europe, the Middle East, India, and beyond before its acquisition by Prometheus Group in 2020.

With over two decades of expertise in entrepreneurship, strategy, and global operations, Narinder is deeply passionate about supporting founders in scaling their companies internationally. Currently based in Singapore, he actively invests in tech-oriented start-ups and mentors emerging entrepreneurs, contributing to the region's vibrant start-up ecosystem. Narinder's journey from BITS Pilani to becoming a global leader in technology and entrepreneurship is a testament to the institute's legacy of producing visionary trailblazers.

alumni

Suhane Pal

Celebrating Memories and Milestones: The Batch of 1995 Reunites at Pilani Campus

From December 20–22, 2024, the Pilani campus became vibrant with nostalgia and celebration as the 1995 Batch returned to mark their Silver Jubilee reunion. This milestone event was a heartfelt tribute to the bonds formed during their years at BITS and a testament to the enduring spirit of BITSians.

Walking through familiar corridors, revisiting cherished spots, and reliving unforgettable moments, the 1995 Batch reaffirmed their connection with their alma mater. The reunion wasn’t just about reminiscing—it was about celebrating how far they have come and how the shared experiences continue to shape their lives. In a gesture of gratitude, the batch also contributed towards initiatives aimed at empowering future BITSians, leaving behind a legacy of giving back. To the 1995 batch, thank you for your incredible spirit, generosity, and unwavering commitment to the BITSian family. Your journey continues to inspire generations to come.

Awards

BITS Pilani wins big at the CII Annual Summit

BITS Pilani was honoured with the prestigious grand jury CII Industry-Academia Partnership Award and the Industrial Innovation Award. The awards were conferred at the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) Annual Summit on Technology, Intellectual Property, and Industry-Academia

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. V Ramgopal Rao, graciously accepted the CII Academia Partnership Award on December 12th, while Mr Rajiv Tandon, CEO of Strategic Initiatives & Industry Research Partnerships, received the CII Industrial Innovation Award on behalf of BITS Pilani on the 13th of December.

Innovation & Collaboration

Did you know?

How happening was the year 2024 for Dubai Campus.