Ernst & Young’s CRD for internship

As part of their drive for selecting candidates for an internship program with a pre-placement component, the management consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) conducted an online assessment test for the pre-final year students (2020 pass out batch) of Vidya on 6 March 2019. As many as 103 students participated in the drive. The short-listed candidates would undergo a case study assessment on 12 March 2019. After the final interviews at the EY office, the selected students would undergo internship at the Thiruvananthapuram office in the cyber security and associated domains.

Ernst & Young (EY) is a multinational professional services firm headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom. EY is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. EY operates as a network of member firms which are separate legal entities in individual countries. The firm dates back to 1849. (Wikipedia)

A team of Vidya students participated in a Walkathon jointly organised by Vidya and the Kidney Federation of India, in connection with the observance of World Kidney Day on 14 March 2019. The Walkathon started from the Naikanal Junction in Thrissur City to the premises of the office of Kidney Federation of India, located near North Bus Stand, Thrissur.

Volunteers of the NSS units of Vidya helped in setting up the electrical wiring of a house built by Solace at Velur Grama Panchayat in Thrissur on 04 March 2019. As many as seven NSS volunteers participated in the programme.

Solace is a voluntary organization registered as a Trust under the Charitable Societies Act of Kerala. The organisation’s main aim is to care for children with long term illnesses and stand by their families, strengthening and comforting them, in the face of harsh realities. Solace ensures that the best medical treatment is made available, helping the families through the stress and strain of living with the illness, and provides financial support, including rent, cost of setting up a livelihood, education of siblings etc.

National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated in India on the 28th of February every year in order to commemorate the invention of the Raman Effect by the great physicist Shri Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. The theme for the observance of National Science Day in 2019 was “Communicating Science for All”.

The Departments of Applied Sciences and Humanities of Vidya celebrated the National Science Day (AION-2019: Science-Fest) on 22 February 2019. The celebration was sponsored by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE).

Dr Seema A (Scientist, C-MET, Thrissur), Chief Guest of the occasion, inaugurated the function. Dr Seema is winner of Nari Shakthi Puraskar-2019. She delivered an enlightening talk based on “Sensors – A Success Story from C-MET”.

Students of Vidya declare war against waste and wastage

In a mission towards eradicating waste, the students of Vidya have initiated a campaign christened “V Challenge Waste and Wastage”. The social media has already given great support to this student venture. Fr Davis Chirammel, Chairman, Kidney Federation of India, was the first person to support the students’ campaign. The campaign was formally launched by the students on 14 March 2019. The launching day was deliberately chosen as 14th March because 14th March was observed as the World Kidney Day. The significance of launching the campaign on this day is that it symbolizes the kidney which has the function of removing waste from the body. Supporting the student initiative, Malayalam Cine Artiste, Guinness Ajay Kumar inaugurated the event by launching a vertical garden made by students using used plastic bottles.

During the function, a few persons who had made valuable contribution to the sustainability of environment were also honoured. Mr Dileepkumar, Jilla Karshaka Award Winner, Mr Francis C D, Environmentalist, Mr Jose C L, Kidney Disease Prevention Activities, Mr Shaji Kaliyath, Chairman, Karunyavum Karuthalum Padhathi and Mankuzhi, and Mr Varghese Tharakan, Ayurjack initiator, were honoured. The solar power system installed by Vidya NSS Tech Cell at Velur Anganawadi was also formally inaugurated by Fr Davis Chirammel on the occasion.

The programme Students, Aakash M K and Aiswarya Raj, presented the challenge before the audience. Mr Sudhakaran Polassery, Chairman, VICT, presided over the function. Dr Saji C B, Principal, Er G Mohanachandran, Executive Director, Mr Babu M Pallissery, Former MLA, VICT Author Trustees, Mr K G Sukumaran, Mr C K Jayarajan, Mr K P R Vijayan, Dr V N Krishnachandran, Vice Principal, and Dr Sudha Balagopalan, Dean Academics, participated in the function. Student Coordinator, Abhijith Rajan, said that other colleges, institutions and individuals should come forward and take up the challenge initiated by Vidya.

The second edition of Vichintya, a one-day Inter-Polytechnic College Project Expo and Paper Presentation Competition organised by Vidya, was held in the College on 16 March 2019. More than 100 students from various Polytechnic Colleges in Kerala participated in the programme.

Mr Velayudhan P, Workshop Supdt and Convener of Vichintya 2K19, welcomed the gathering. The programme was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr Viswanthan Kumar, Former Director and Senior Scientist of CMET. Principal Dr Saji C B delivered the presidential address. Mr Suresh Lal, Finance Director, VICT , Dr Sudha Balagopalan, Dean of Academics, and Dr N Ramachandran (Prof and Head, ME Dept) felicitated the function. Ms Viji Vinodan, Trade Instructor and Co-ordinator of Vichintya 2K19, proposed the vote of thanks.

Prize winners
The judges reported that the projects and papers presented during the competition were of high standard. The First Prize in Project Expo was bagged by the team from Govt Polytechnic College, Palakkad, and the Second Prize(sponsored by Association of Vidya Alumni) by the team from KKMM Polytechnic College, Mala. The Third Prize was shared between St Mary'[s Polytechnic College, Palakkad, and Thiagarajar Polytechnic College, Amballur. The First Prize for paper presentation competition went to Maharaja’s Technological Institute, Thrissur, the Second to Govt. Womens Polytechnic College, Nedupuzha, and the Third to Thiagarajar Polytechnic College, Amballur. Winners were given cash prizes and trophies. All participants were awarded certificates.

US expert holds webinar on “AI Today and Tomorrow” for students and faculty of Vidya

Mr Travis Nixon, Data Scientist & AI Consultant
Vidya International Charitable Trust (VICT) has facilitated a greatly valued US Industry Collaboration with VCAIR (Vidya Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Research) on AI & API products through Mr Nidhin Kadavil, Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Lead, and Mr Travis Nixon, Data Scientist & AI Consultant. Mr Nidhin Kadavil is the initiator and the main source of this collaboration. To introduce the collaborative project works, Mr Travis Nixon offered a webinar on the topic “AI Today and Tomorrow”. VCAIR hosted the webinar live over both the Vidya campuses at Thrissur and Kilimanoor on 20 March 2019 at 4.30pm IST for 700+ participants.

Mr Travis provided a clear introduction about what is AI and areas where it could be enforced which include education, health and business. A polling scheme was included in this session where the participants voted for the answers to questions. Mr Travis was patient enough to answer the students’ enquires about the AI field in today’s world. Also he explained about two case studies that included NETFLIX and BLOCK BUSTER. His presentation depicted an idea of how fast AI is growing. Those students who are creative and who have good knowledge in AI and Machine Learning can definitely look for AI projects. He has also discussed about a few projects on which they were working.

Mr Travis also highlighted their collaborative handshake with the institution in near future and made the first announcement for a Datix Hackathon contest which would begin on 5 March 2019. The Hackathon contest aims at scrutinizing and finding the best teams that can take the projects from Datix. The winners will be awarded with cash price.

Around 700+ students and faculty members form various departments in both the campuses participated in the interactive webinar. The arrangements were provided for both common display as well as one-on one interaction. The students were inspired by the clear and informative session of Mr Travis and also motivated to register for the upcoming Hackathon.

The NSS units of Vidya also became a part of the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) project of Govt of India. The NSS volunteers of Vidya lent a helping hand in the efforts to implement the AMRUT scheme in Guruvayur Minicipality under the directions of the Town Planning Committee. The NSS volunteers helped in collecting data about the residents of all the 34 wards of Guruvayur Municipality on 17 March 2019. As many as 150 NSS volunteers participated in the programme.

The NSS volunteers also collected data regarding residents of Thrissur City Corporation on 24 March 2019. As many as 140 NSS volunteers participated in the programme. Volunteers collected details of residents of 11 wards in Thrissur City Corporation.

What is AMRUT?
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015 with the focus to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewage networks and water supply for urban transformation by implementing urban revival projects. Rajasthan was the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under AMRUT. Both the schemes “Housing for All by 2022” and “Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation” were launched on the same day. The scheme is dependent with public private partnership model.

The purpose of AMRUT is to (i) ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewerage connection; (ii) increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks); and (iii) reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling).(Wikipedia)

C-design is a creative design studio, based in Thrissur with offices in Sharjah, UAE. They design, draft and develop architectural, interior, 2D and 3D art creations.

C-Design, started operations in 2005, is built with a team of experienced professionals in the field of architecture, engineering and creative design. They help their clients in product and project planning, designing and in their marketing efforts.

C-Design conducted a campus recruitment drive in Vidya for the 2019 pass out batches of Civil Engineering students on 20 March 2019.

Second Prize for d’ Addiction Dance Club of Vidya
Here is one more reason for Vidya to celebrate. Vidya’s students have shown that they can compete successfully with their peers, not only in academics, but also in the dance and music field also. The d’ Addiction Dance Club of Vidya has secured the Second Prize in the dance competition (non-thematic category) in the techno-cultural fest Ragam 2019 organised by National Institute of Technology, Calicut, during 22 – 24 March 2019.

d’ Addiction Dance Club no strangers to NIT Calicut or its Ragam
Vidya and its d’ Addiction Dance Club are no strangers to NIT Calicut or its Ragam festival. The Club has been regularly performing in the Ragam event for the past several years. It is highly interesting to recall that the Club had secured the First Prize for their performance in 2017 edition of Ragam.

Developer Students Club of Vidya conducts workshop on Android Basics

The first program under the Developer Students Club VAST (DSC VAST) for the academic year 2018-19 was held on 23 March 2019. It was a four hour session on Android Basics and Development for the first and second year B Tech students and as many as 30 students attended the programme.

The session began with an introduction by the DSC Lead, Hemanth Janesh (S6 B Tech CSE) where he gave a brief introduction about Developer Students Club, various technologies and areas that a developer should be aware of and gave confidence to beginners in Android App development.

The technical session was handled by Shaheen N S (S6 B Tech CSE), a core team member of DSC VAST along with Nikhil P S (S8 B Tech CSE) where they explained in detail about the basic concepts required for developing an app in Android Studio.

The session focused mainly on 3 areas: Setting up a development environment,familiarizing layouts and building an APK. The students were given a complete hands on session on installation of Android Studio and setting it up. For familiarisation of layouts, an empty activity was created by the students where they experimented with the various layouts available and its implementation.

Fr Davis Chirammel, Chairman, Kidney Federation of India, inaugurated the integrated farming system of NSS units of Vidya on 14 March 2019. The integrated farming includes rabbit farming, poultry farming and fish farming. The aim of the programme is to develop the skills and knowledge in the area of agriculture.

KSLSA holds legal literacy classes for second year BTech students

With the help of Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA), the Anti-ragging Committee of Vidya organised a legal literacy class for the second year B Tech students on 25 March 2019 from 11.15 AM to 01 PM at the College Auditorium. Adv Jose Peter from Taluk Legal Services Authority (TLSA) was the resource person for the class. The programme was conducted as a part of the anti-ragging campaign in the state initiated by TLSA. The programme was also aimed at spreading awareness on legal issues relevant to the student community in general.

The Skill Center of Vidya, in association with the NSS Technical Cell, organized a two-day Skill Training Workshop on Solar Power System Implementation at Vidya on 23 – 24 March 2018. As many as 87 students from 37 colleges including Polytechnic Colleges and Engineering Colleges, participated in the workshop .

A part of the activities of the workshop, there was a session devoted to a demonstration of the working of CNC machine and LED assembling which was handled by Vishnu P C (NSS Volunteer Secretary). There were hands-on sessions on repairing of domestic home appliances handled by Mr Bineesh. The main activity of the workshop, hands-on sessions on Solar Power System Implementation, was conducted by Mr Mohammed Rabeeh. There was also a session for imparting theoretical knowledge about the battery, battery bank sizing, designing of the solar power system, etc to the participants.