A four-day workshop on science for school students, conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in association with the Kerala Chapter of Vijnana Bharati (Swadeshi Science Movement), concluded here Friday with experts exhorting the young minds to pursue science as a career option and give wings to their talents in frontier areas, including space, artificial intelligence and cyber security.
Around 100 students from various schools in the city participated in the workshop, Face to Face with Frontiers in Science.
In his inaugural address, RGCB Director Chandrabhas Narayana urged the students to consider creativity as the guiding light in their choices of higher studies and profession. He also briefed them about the various services offered by the RGCB during the pandemic, helping the State to a great extent in controlling it.
Eminent scientists, drawn from the RGCB; CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology; Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology (SCTIMST); Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram; Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC); and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), addressed the technical sessions on diverse topics, ranging from biotechnology to sustainable energy materials.
Applied biotechnology
E.V. Soniya, scientist, RGCB, provided a tutorial on applied biotechnology, giving insights into topics such as genetically modified crops and DNA fingerprinting and Suraj Soman and Rakhi R.B. of the CSIR-NIIST dwelt upon the need for sustainable energy and also demonstrated the potential of dye sensitised solar cells and energy space device supercapacitors.
A session by Achuth Sankar S. Nair of the University of Kerala introduced the concepts of new frontiers of science, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning.
Melvin John and Hiren Bose of C-DAC unfolded the intricacies of cybersecurity, enabling the students to comprehend new-age terms like open source intelligence. H.K. Varma and Anoop Thekkuveetil from SCTIMST introduced the clinical use of biomaterials and the learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively.
Rajeev Kini of IISER Thiruvananthapuram gave an interesting lecture on the world at Femtosecond time scales while Biju Prasad provided a clear vision of future prospects in student workshop on space.
P.A. Vivekananda Pai, National Secretary, Vijnana Bharati, and U.S. Hareesh, Programme Chairman, and Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NIIST, were among those who spoke at the valedictory function.
A session on Vedic mathematics and a science quiz were the other highlights of the programme. The students also visited the laboratories of the RGCB for a feel of the state-of-the-art analytical facilities.
