Tech fest inaugurated

Updated on: Thursday, September 30, 2010

The international climate change agreement must not just be about limiting carbon emissions, but also complement and promote sustainable development, according to Blair Hall, Counselor for Economic Affairs and Environment, Science and Technology, U.S. Embassy, New Delhi.

He was addressing students at the inauguration of ‘Shaastra', the annual technical festival of the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT-M) here on Wednesday. Climate change and sustainable development would be one of the issues that would gain focus during the upcoming visit of the US President Barack Obama to India, Mr. Hall said. Recognising the need for a clean energy economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Obama had launched the ‘Clean energy and climate change initiative'. “The goal of the initiative is to improve the lives of people of both countries by developing and improving technologies that make clean energy affordable and more efficient,” Mr. Hall said, urging students to use ‘Shaastra' as an opportunity to come up with innovative solutions.

Oopali Operajita, chair and founder of the ‘Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition 2010', outlined the objectives of a contest, which sought to motivate students to come up with creative solutions to environmental problems.

V.G. Idichandy, director in-charge, IIT-M, said student projects should not be shelved in the library, but must be applied in practical contexts to real issues. Vivek Rajkumar, co-curricular affairs secretary, IIT-M and M. Govardhan, Dean (students), IIT-M spoke.

Tech fest inaugurated

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