APOGEE (festival)
| APOGEE | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Technical Festival |
| Dates | March |
| Location(s) | Pilani, India |
| Attendance | 200 colleges |
| Website | |
| http://www.bits-apogee.org/ | |
APOGEE (A Professional’s Oriented Gathering of Educational Experience) is the annual technical festival of Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, in Pilani. It is one of the largest technical festivals[1][2] in India and is often considered to be one of the top three technical festivals in Asia. It is wholly student organized and managed. Held annually during March, the college unfailingly attracts over 1000 participants during the festival. Apogee is one of the few technical festivals in India which holds an ISO 9001:2008 certification[1][2]
History
Apogee was first held in 1983. It has grown from strength to strength over the years, with the peak coming in 2008 when it received the much-vaunted ISO certification that propelled it into a different league altogether. Eminent speakers and dignitaries who have graced APOGEE in the past include Jimmy Wales, Meera Sanyal, David Griffiths, Rachel Armstrong, Stephen Wolfram, Gauri Nanda, Marzio Nessi and many others. The technical festival has been regularly covered by major TV channels, and attracts a budget of over 40 lacs. Over 150 colleges from India participate in the fest, which boasts of at least 60 events every year.
Events
APOGEE events include kernel events, workshops, project displays, paper presentation, online events,Think Again Conclave, guest lectures, and exhibitions.
Kernel Events
Kernel events are the major attractions during the festival, and are usually the ones which get the most exposure, participation and rewards. Previous Kernels include events like Bioloid Soccer League, which is a humanoid soccer challenge; Momento Critico, where the details of a crisis are provided and the solution is to be found out; Product Pitch, which is a potential platform for budding entrepreneurs; Echo Green, which is an initiative to provide solutions for environmental issues; and FTGP, where participants build a remote controlled car and race it in a mini-Grand Prix. Every year APOGEE attracts some of the most cerebrally gifted minds to display their skills and put forward their thoughts and ideas. It is a unique aggregation of a wide range of events like paper and project presentation on scientific innovations, technical events from all engineering and science fields,lectures from eminent personalities and visionaries, enthralling workshops and exhibitions, quizzes and a cultural night
Categories of events
The events taking place during APOGEE are classified in categories namely Automation, Build & Design, Code and Simulate, Economania, Develop and Discover, Miscellaneous, Online Events and Quiz.
Guest Lectures
Eminent speakers like Jimmy Wales, Dilip Chhabria, Michael Hogedal, Ron Eglash, Archana Sharma, Dr.A.S. Pillai, Meera Sanyal, Prabhu Chawla,Dan Meyer,Gauri Nanda, Dr. Pawan Agrawal, Piyush Pandey, Jeff Leiberman, Devdutt Pattnaik have appeared in previous editions of APOGEE in the lecture series called Think Again Conclave.
Special Attractions
The Apogee 2011 inauguration witnessed a dance performance by AcYut 4 India's first indigenously developed humanoid. Other events are the Inauguration ceremony of the festival and ‘Mithali Nite’ which is a cultural night on the second day of the festival.
The CoStAA
The organizing body is the "Committee of Students for Academic Activities" ("CoStAA") which consists of the President and General Secretary of the Student's Union and heads of major departments. The departments that work for APOGEE include Art,Design & Publicity, Controlz, Sponsorship and Marketing, Reception and Accommodation, Publications and Correspondence, Paper Evaluation and Presentation, and Department of Visual Media (formerly known as CCTV).
Other Departments and Clubs
Clubs and departments that work behind the scenes include Controls, Backstage, Lights, Sounds, Department of Informalz, Department Of Photography (DOPY), Firewallz (security) and Audi Force (security of the auditorium). Clubs include Creative Activities Club (CrAC), English Press, Hindi Press, Dance, Mime, Music, Poetry, Photography, Hindi Activities Society, Association For Computing Machinery(BITS-ACM), English Language Activities Society and Debating Society.
Discipline Associations
The Discipline Associations work with the CoStAA body for the organization of the festival.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birla Institute of Technology and Science. |
- APOGEE official website
- Think Again Conclave