Day 2 of India Science Fest at The Hyderabad Public School a grand success as thousands of students from across the country join the largest science exhibit

‘A new chapter into the new centenary,’ says Mr. Gusti J Noria – President HPSS

Hyderabad, 21 January 2023: The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet which is hosting the fourth edition of India Science Festival finds success with Day 1 of the mega event as part of the centenary celebrations of the school. The three-day Science Festival organised in association with Telangana State Innovation Cell and organized by FAST India is themed around ‘Future is Now’. The three-day event includes Popular science talks, Interdisciplinary Panel Discussions, Interactive Installations, Hands-on Workshops, Policy Roundtables, Book Launches, Film Screenings and Performances, Biodiversity trails, photo exhibition and a PhD programme booth for college students as well.

Mr. Gusti J Noria – The President HPS Society said, “It is exhilarating to host such a grand scale event and see stupendous participation from various quarters – students, scientists, researchers, teachers and corporates that have come together at The Hyderabad Public School for the first event of our year long centenary celebrations. It was wonderful to also have our alumni joining us here today during the India Science Fest. Through the last hundred years we have endeavored at excellence, and we will strive to keep this legacy for the coming years. I hope the participants who have attended today’s sessions are enlightened which shall help them open up new chapter in their respective lives.”

There was a stellar lineup of inspiring talks such as ‘Unlocking the secrets of the universe: a walk through a particle accelerator’ by Dr. Archana Sharma – Senior Scientist, CERN Switzerland; Machine Learning – past, present and a likely future by Prateek Jain, Google Research India; ‘Eyes behind JWST: from first light to new planets’ by Mark McCaughrean from European Space Agency; ‘Varahamihira’s eclipse proof: exploring the history of Indian astronomy’ by Mr. R Gopu – Varahamihira Science Forum are just a few examples. There were also experts from around the world talking on AI, how biology and physics work tougher, accelerating discover with advancement of computers, neuroscience, nanoscience, creating a disease-free world and many more.

Panel discussions were held on topics on such as ‘National Security and our technology edge’, ‘Technology in arts and culture’, and creating a ‘disease-free world’. Fireside chats on being a technologist in 21st century, safety on internet, and fact-checking in science came as eye-openers. The STEM booths included the likes of DBT – Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Dr. Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, MapyMyGenome, Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, LV Prasad Eye Institute among others.

Students between ages 8 and 13 attended a session on ‘Space rocks’ with astronomer Prof. Mark McCaughrean; while students above the age 13 participated in a session on ‘Science busking! Make science fun’ with Mr. David Price. Mr. Sriram Raghavan took a session on ‘Ask me anything about AI’ for students aged between 8-13. Dr. Vedika Khemani gave a session on ‘How did I make to Standfor Univeresity’. On the other hand a ‘Science in a just a minute’ JAM competition was held for all ages. Yet more quiz programmes such as InQuizitive: The ISF Science Quiz was held as first round.

Dr. Anurag Agrawal led a ‘walk in the part with a lung specialist’ as he spoke about the importance of being close to nature the benefits of nature walks. Computer scientist Aniket Bera spoke on ‘All about robots with computers which students with key take-aways. Experiments such as ‘The Global Coin’ by the Royal Society of Chemistry helped bring out the curiosities of the students. Students also got exposure to what real scientists do in the lab. A demo on engineering of idli steaming units were explained while yet another set of students were given a demonstration on ‘Biotential signals’.

A workshop on Science Writing & Professional Networking and ‘Impact Science’ was oen to Masters, PhD students and researchers at the PhD programme booth. A series of fun STEM games, Coding Experience Zone, Robotics, AI Dance and AI art etc. also rounded up the day 1 of the India Science Festival at HPS.