Scientists, educationists and school teachers emphasised the need to convert science into technology through engineering in a way that can be useful for society and nation-building at an event held in Pune on Saturday.
“The time to come will be based on technology and there is a great need to convert science into technology,” said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) former deputy director Anant Vishwanath Patki at the 2023 Brillio National STEM Challenge final.
“We already have a lot of talent among our students. What is needed is to make facilities available to students like labs and experimenting infrastructure so that talent can be nurtured.”
Professor Jitendra Sangwai, a faculty member from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, told the students, “Simply getting marks, taking the pressure of examinations like JEE or competition for the IITs is not necessary. What is important is converting your knowledge into something beneficial for the society, scientific community and nation-building.”
The importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) innovation and advancement for the growth of society, nation and world at large was echoed by the various other academicians, scientists and educationists who addressed the students.
“A strong STEM workforce is crucial for driving innovation and economic growth,” said Parag Kalkar, pro-vice-chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University. “Providing STEM exposure to underprivileged students is also key to boosting India’s competitiveness on the international stage by ensuring a skilled and adaptable workforce.”
After competing with over 2,500 students from 20 states in at least 70 rounds, a select few made it to Pune for the finals.
More than 130 finalists studying in classes 6 to 10 from 13 states had a day filled with model-making competitions, technology tinkering, STEM-related activities, technology quizzes and presentations to jury members.
The event, organised jointly by Brillio and STEM Learning, was the culmination of a year-long engagement facilitated between students and STEM and industry experts, along with activities and skill-building.
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Ashutosh Pandit, the founder of STEM Learning, said according to some studies, over 80 per cent of jobs of the next decade would require some form of mathematics or science skills and emphasised the role of such events in overcoming challenges, especially infrastructural, faced by government schools in providing these job-oriented skills.
‘Nobody has a better lunar calendar than us’
Patki, on the sidelines of the event, told the media that science has to be percolated down to society. “We were very good in science in Aryabhatta’s period. We were the leading people in astronomy. We had a lunar calendar, and nobody had a better calendar than us. Islamic calendar, for example, cannot consider the solar system. Their seasons don’t match with the months.
“In Ramayana, we can see that we were using bows and arrows or country boats to cross the river. That is how they actually crossed the Sharvari river (in the Ramayana). For almost 2,000 years, we were still in the same period. When the Britishers came, we were still using bow and arrow. They came in large ships, which is technology, and they brought guns, which is also technology. So, what we lost was because we did not convert our science into engineering or technology. So science has to be percolated down the society,” Patki added.
