Thiruvananthapuram: The Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET) concluded the regional finals of the IET South Asia ‘Present Around the World’ competition on August 04, 2019. Lithika, working with Texas Instruments as Analogue Design Engineer, was announced as the winner and Sneha Saha, a third year Computer Science & Engineering student from Techno Main, Salt Lake, Kolkata, was declared runner up.

Present Around The World (PATW) is a global presentation competition for students, graduates and young professionals aged 18-30 years that aims to provide a platform to showcase and explore their talent and innovative thinking. Lithika’s winning presentation on the topic ‘Sakhi- a companion chatbot for the elderly and for patients suffering from psychogenic disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease ’ was awarded a cash prize of £400 (approx. Rs 34,000). She will now compete in the global finals which will be held in London in October this year. The runner-up, Sneha Saha, was awarded a cash prize of £300 (Approx. Rs. 25,000) for her presentation on the topic ‘Detection of Oral Cancer by Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI)’.

As part of the competition, individual competitors give a 10-minute presentation on a subject related to engineering and technology that aims to address a social problem. The competition provides a platform for students to develop a practice of applying theoretical learning to resolve social problems and groom their communication skills.

The IET, having taken the initiative to conduct SA PATW, shortlists candidates and trains them to get ready for the competition. The competition gives engineering aspirants an exposure and recognition at a global level.

This year, the competition witnessed participation from engineers across India and Sri Lanka vying for the top honors. The jury included Arul Jerald Prakash, Director, Kerala Science and Technology Museum, Govt. of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, J T Gino Premila, Global Head, Initial Learning Program, TCS, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr K Jayakumar, Head STS, FEAST Software Development Division, Structural Engineering Entity, VSSC/ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram.

On the sidelines of the event, Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director, IET India said “The industry is growing at a rapid pace and requires a new set of skills for the next decade.” He furthered, “Skills like complex problem solving, the art of negotiation, people management, and coordination with a team are very well practiced in our IET professional networks. While the engineering curricula is undergoing change to suit the needs of the industry, competitions like ‘Present Around the World’ are conceptualised to encourage young engineers develop the ability to translate complex technical concepts to simple layman terms. Our aim at the IET is to provide students and budding professionals a unique platform to explore their creativity and soft skills, and in turn contribute to their holistic development. PATW has been one of our marquee initiatives and we are thrilled to see the talent this year again. We congratulate the winner and wish her luck for the global finals in London, UK.”