India Science Festival: Vibrant debates enliven HPS campus

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, hosted the fourth edition of India Science Festival 2023 (IFS 2023) as part of its centenary celebrations which began on Friday. The theme of this year’s edition is ‘Future is Now’.

Students and parents were seen engaging with the dignitaries and immersed in a night of exploration. The inaugural day witnessed engaging talks, panel discussions, workshops, interactive demos, film screenings, exhibits, competitions, and games. Discussions were held on a variety of subjects, including science, technology, and the environment.

The topics included artificial intelligence, climate change, genomics, public health, robots, and space research. On display were a brain-controlled helicopter, driverless cars, genetically modified flies, humanoid robots, among others.  Additionally, there were photo exhibits of the campus created by the staff as well as biodiversity trails. The science fest will conclude on January 22.

“As a teacher I feel the purpose of education has been compromised and has been limited to jobs rather than for the purpose of holistic growth. Pupils should be instilled with a joy for learning. We need to reorient our approach towards education and infuse the utility of science in the students. This is an opportunity for all of us to spearhead progress in this direction,” said Dr Madhav Deo Saraswat, principal of the Hyderabad Public School.

The India Science Festival is brought by the Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (FAST India) in association with the TS Innovation Council (TSIC). The guest of honour and chief guests for this year’s ISF were Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, honorary distinguished professor at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Dr Archana Sharma, senior scientist, CERN Switzerland.

Other dignitaries included Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan, advisor to ISF; Varun Aggarwal, founder FAST India; Ashish Dhawan, founder FAST India and Ashoka University; Jayant Krishna, CEO FAST India; Dr Shanta Thoutam, chief innovation officer, TSIC; and Gusti Noria, president of HPS Society.

Prominent speakers from Stanford University, Microsoft, IBM, Google Research, The European Space Agency, AIIMS, Ashoka University and prestigious institutions shared their thoughts on innovation and technology.

Educational institutions can register at https://bit.ly/School_College_ISF_Registration and for others it is bit.ly/ISF2023_Register