It was a day of immense pride when Techno Main Salt Lake recently honored its alumnus, Soumajit Chatterjee (see bottom pic), who played a pivotal role in the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission. Soumajit is Class of 2007 of Techno Main Salt Lake’s computer science department. The auditorium was buzzing with excitement as students gathered to hear their alumnus. Soumajit spoke about his remarkable journey, reflecting on the sacrifices and hard work that led him to his current position as the operations director of spacecraft mission software for Chandrayaan 3. He also highlighted his early interest in core engineering and space science, which led him to take the Indian Space Research Organisation’s entrance exam in 2007.
Soumajit stressed the importance of exploring various fields alongside IT subjects, encouraging students to consider apprenticeships in fields like aerospace.
The event featured a question-answer session, where students posed intriguing questions to Soumajit, who responded with enthusiasm. A touching moment during the felicitation was the presence of Soumajit’s parents and the heart-felt words they shared with us.
We are not only proud but deeply motivated by the remarkable achievements of Soumajit. He exemplifies the indomitable spirit of dedication, commitment and love for one’s country. We look forward to following in his footsteps and making our own contributions in the world. And his decision to not go abroad may inspire some of us to do the same.
Aishwarya Saha
Final-year student of CSE department, Techno Main Salt Lake, Calcutta
Problem solvers
The top three teams of Solve for Tomorrow 2023, Samsung India’s youth education and innovation competition, were announced recently. The winning teams developed a robot called Sweep; a conversational AI tool that helps women in STEM and a personal cooling device called Kavach. The three teams received a total prize money of Rs 1.5 crore to turn their ideas into reality.
NIT Surat’s Aditi Tapariya, Harshil Mistry and Vaibhav Gupta built an automated robot that picks up waste from beaches and sorts them according to how recyclable they are. Stemly’s Yash Yadav, from Nagpur, showcased a conversational AI tool that solves gender bias by mentoring more women to choose STEM subjects. Mukkabir Rahman, Ankush Yadav and Varsha KJ of Think made a wearable device — a neckband — that prevents individuals from experiencing extreme heat and cold.
The three winners were selected after a grand finale in New Delhi where the top 10 teams of the competition made their final pitches and showcased their prototypes.
The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2023 journey started in April when Samsung invited 16 to 22-year-olds to solve problems around four themes — Education & Learning, Health & Wellness, Environment & Sustainability and Diversity & Inclusion. Over 6,500 teams from across 500 cities, towns and villages submitted their ideas from which 30 teams were selected. These teams went through an intense bootcamp at IIT Delhi followed by a pitch before a Samsung jury to select the Top 10 teams.
