With int’l competitions cancelled, students make a fresh start

Mangaluru: Pandemic has left the students of the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) disappointed after several competitions were cancelled or shifted to virtual platforms.
“The situation has made the hackathons and online engagements as the only competitive arenas,” said Srikant Rao, director, MIT.
Tushaar Neb, team leader, Mars Rover Manipal said for the last one year, the team has been preparing for the University Rover Challenge, Utah, US. “Our rover was in its testing phase and we were in the process of finalising flight tickets and hotel accommodation. The team was devastated when we heard the competition was not happening. It’s a two-year journey for a team member. Based on the video submissions, the team stood seventh, which is the second-best score of the team yet. We are happy that our efforts did not go in vain,” said Tushaar.
Baidyananth Kundu, a team member, Project Manas, undergraduate AI robotics research team, said that they were disappointed in not being able to participate at the AUVSI SUAS competition, Maryland, USA. “However, the team has bounced back in action and has started preparations for the next competition. Work on designs has commenced as its being build with better foundations,” he said.
Similarly, Team Manipal Racing was looking forward to participating in the BAJA SAE Louisville competition in the second week of May. Thirteen of 18 students had booked flight tickets and the refunds took a while. Shrey Gurav, vice-captain, said, “The event was transferred to a virtual platform. The virtual event was a good learning experience except for not being able to give the sales presentation due to a technical glitch. That would have given us a better overall ranking than the current 25th.”
AeroMIT, aeromodelling, and drone research team were lucky to participate in SAE Aero Design East, Florida, USA, and securing an overall fourth position. Vishnu Latheesh, team leader said, “A team of 15 were lucky to participate at the international competition in March, where we were ranked one in technical presentation, fourth in mission performance and eight in design report. However, a national competition for which the team had qualified stands cancelled. Currently, online recruitment for the next season and research on vertical take-off and landing aircraft is on,” Vishnu said.