Athena 1.0: an online Business Plan Competition

An online Business plan competition: Athena 1.0, aimed to encourage entrepreneurship among students was organised during July 11-12, 2020 with 100+ participants across all the institutes of Nirma University. The teams were challenged to conceive a new service/product, and create a business plan and concept pitch presentation aimed at convincing potential investors to finance the business.

The final Pitch Decks was viewed by a panel of two judges, Dr Abhiram Singamsetti, Co-founder at StartupWize; and Ms Rashmika Shah, Coordinator-Centre for Entrepreneurship; who selected the Top 10 teams. The teams pitched their ideas live on Youtube competing with each other in front of another panel of three judges,  Mr Debasis Chakraborty, CEO of London Strategy and Consulting Group; Ms Saudamini Singh, founder-The Ginete; and Mr Kunnar Vijay Parmar, founder and CEO of Wivitan Solutions India Pvt Ltd.

First position was bagged by a team comprising students of Institute of Management: Rushil Agrawal, Divyanshi Dubey, Parth Amol and Pramiti Rawat for their product ?Self Sanitizing Door Handles using UV light?. Second position was shared by two teams. Team comprising students of Institute of Management: Swasti Salecha, Debaleena Mazumdar, and Bhavya Chaudary ideating on ?Simplifying E-Book reading for avid readers; and by Institute of Law students: Ritvik Jha, Piyush Kumar Singh, Anubha Maheshwari and Ritunjay Sharma for ?Author orientated research and publication platform?. Third position was bagged by Institute of Management students, Shalini Budhwani, Deesha, Devyani and Muskan Sharma who devised a platform to ?Network, learn and obtain career guidance from like-minded people of their same career path?. 

International Day of Yoga

Keeping in view the current situation, Nirma University celebrated the 6^th International Day of Yoga on the theme ?Yoga @ Home and Yoga with family? on June 21, 2020 as per the guidelines of the Ministry of AYUSH. About 494 officers, professors, staff, students as well as NSS volunteers and NCC cadets enthusiastically participated in the event from the confines of their home. 

Impact Study of COVID-19 Pandemic

Faculty members and students of Institute of Law, Nirma University conducted ??An Impact Study of COVID-19 Pandemic” during June 2020. The study was conducted on five villages Jagatpur, Traghad, Khoraj, Khodiyar (Ahmedabad Districts) and Valad (Gandhinagar District). The key focus areas of the study was to know about the awareness of the villagers about COVID-19, associated challenges of the pandemic and what are the main strategies they have adopted to fight the ongoing pandemic. The key outcome of the study highlighted the livelihood saving strategies by the people with help of Government and other civil society organisations working in the areas of this study.

Other Events and Activities 

• Theatre Club, Institute of Law organised a Live session on ?Behind the Camera, Inside the Mind”on July 4, 2020 by Mr Ashish R Mohan, the renowned Bollywood director who directed movies like Khiladi 786 and Welcome to Karachi.
• Organisation of Civil Engineering Students (OrCES) organised a webinar on ?Life Lessons from Indian Army? by Capt Dharmveer Singh (Ex. Army Officer) on July 2, 2020.
• Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology in collaboration with Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Student Chapter organised an online expert lecture on ?Latest Trends and Technologies in Green Building? for the BTech Semester V students of Civil Engg Dept on July 17, 2020 by Ms Sri Rekha, Counsellor, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
• The sophomore batch of Institute of Commerce organised a virtual farewell for the batch of 2017-2020 through an online video conferencing platform on June 11, 2020. The event concluded with mixed emotions, while there was happiness abound as the students completed their academic journey, nostalgia marked the event filled with songs, poems and anecdotes.
• Club NiChe of Institute of Management organised a webinar on June 20, 2020 on the theme ‘Phygital Marketing’ by Mr Ram Jalan (Digital Marketing Consultant and owner at DINTW), Mr Srihari Gopinath (Director at Hewlett Packard), and Mr Harshvardhan Chauhaan (Vice President, Marketing at Spencer’s Retail & Omnichannel). The discussion emphasised on the evolving megatrends in phygital marketing and how it affects the traditional business models. With the help of real life examples (Amazon, DLF, HP), the speakers made this elusive topic easy to understand and apply. The webinar was attended by 71 participants.
• Club NiChe of Institute of Management hosted a webinar on June 2, 2020 with Mr Manish Shah (CEO at JCR Fashion Retail Ltd), Mr Pawan Kulkarni (GM at JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd), and Mr Praful Jain (Digital Marketing Professional) as the panellists. The discussion centred on digitalisation and how it is important in these unprecedented times due to COVID-19. It was attended by around 80 students.
• Imprintz, the HR Club of Institute of Management organised a webinar on the theme “Caring, Listening, and Empathy are Priority” on June 12, 2020. Mr Hemal Shah, Managing Director at HR Re-Engineers spoke about importance of effective communication by ?being interested? rather than ?being interesting?.

Webinars

International Webinar on Accounting Education and Accounting Profession Post COVID-19

Institute of Commerce organised its first ever international webinar on ?Accounting Education and Accounting Profession: Post COVID-19? on June 6, 2020. The webinar was addressed by Prof Rajendra P Srivastava, Professor Emeritus of Accounting & Information Systems, School of Business, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA; Prof Jaco P Fouche, Professor of Accounting & Finance, North West University, South Africa; and Prof Udai Paliwal, Dean at Institute of Commerce, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. A total of 232 participants were present during the webinar, which included prominent faculties, practitioners and students across the country and abroad.  Following the presentation by the three resource persons and the IAA president Prof G Soral, there was an interactive session through chat box.

Sustainable Future, Lessons from the Pandemic

A webinar on ?Sustainable Future, Lessons from the Pandemic? by Mr Kartikeya Sarabhai, Founder & Director, Centre for Environment Education was organised by Institute of Management on June 16, 2020.  Mr Sarabhai discussed the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 on environment and emphasised the importance of generation of bio-medical waste on a daily basis. He also discussed the three pillars for sustainability (Social, Environmental and Economic) and how we have to bring changes in our lifestyle for a sustainable future.

Opportunities for Design Professionals Post COVID-19

Institute of Architecture and Planning, Nirma University in collaboration with RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University organised a webinar on “Opportunities for Design Professionals Post COVID-19” on June 1, 2020. A total of 125 participants attended the event. The session was conducted by Prof Amol Shimpi (MRICS) – Associate Dean and Director, School of Real Estate and Infrastructure.

Minding the Mind

?Minding the Mind? by Dr Parag Amin, Dean-Marketing, SEISCOMS-Mumbai, NLP Practitioner and Life Coach was organised by Institute of Commerce on June 24, 2020. The speaker demonstrated various mindfulness techniques for the benefit of the participants and also illustrated internal and external techniques for mind management. A total of around 140 members, including students and faculty members were present in the webinar.

Education for Justice Webinar Series

Institute of Law in a joint collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) organised an open webinar series under Education for Justice (EJ4) initiative. The first webinar was held on June 4, 2020 on “Education for Justice and the Rule of Law: Good Practices and Innovations”. The speakers of the webinar were Ms Bianca Kopp, Global Coordinator (tertiary level) at E4J Initiative, UNODC; Mr Jayant Mishra, ROSA Law Enforcement Expert; Mr Krishna Sastry Pendyala, Executive Director at Cyber Security Services, PwC, India; Mr Samarth Pathak, Communications Officer and Focal Point (E4J), Regional Office for South Asia, UNODC; and Mr Nitesh Chaudhary, Assistant Professor at Institute of Law, Nirma University.

The second webinar under the series was held on June 15, 2020 on “Education on Cybercrime and Cyber Laws: Interventions and Experiences”. The speakers of the webinar were Ms Bianca Kopp, Global Coordinator (tertiary level) at E4J Initiative, UNODC; Mr Jayant Mishra, ROSA Law Enforcement Expert; Mr Krishna Sastry Pendyala, Executive Director at Cyber Security Services, PwC, India; Mr Samarth Pathak, Communications Officer and Focal Point (E4J), Regional Office for South Asia, UNODC; and Dr Bishwa Kalyan Dash, Assistant Professor, Institute of Law, Nirma University.

Webinar Series on Changing Dynamics of IP Regime during COVID-19

Centre for IPR, Institute of Law organised a webinar series on ?Changing Dynamics of IP Regime during COVID-19?.

• The first webinar was held on June 6, 2020 on ?Role of Patents and Technology Transfer in coping with post COVID-19 conditions?. The speaker of the webinar was Dr M Padmavati, Professor and Dean, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur.
• ?Patents and Pandemics-Role of Patent Pooling in combatting COVID-19? by Mr G R Raghavender, Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, June 13, 2020.
• ?Can patent-pooling ensure equitable access to COVID-19 health technologies in a divided world? on June 13, 2020. The speaker of the webinar was Mr Sachin Sathyarajan, lecturer at Jindal Global Law School.

Webinar on Public Health Care Laws

The Students Research Council organised a webinar series on Public Health Care Laws.

• “Changing dimensions of Public Health Care Laws post-COVID 19” on June 9, 2020 by Dr Bismi Gopalakrishnan, Head, Department of Law, University of Kerala, and Dean, Faculty of Law, MG University; and Dr Purvi Pokhariyal, Dean and Director, Institute of Law, Nirma University.
• ?Emerging challenges to the Public Health Laws in India? on June 25, 2020by Prof Dipika Jain, Professor & Vice Dean(Research) and Executive Director at Centre for Health Law Ethics & Technology, Jindal Global Law School; Dr Purvi Pokhariyal, Dean and Director; and Dr Madhuri Parikh, Associate Professor and Head of Department at Institute of Law, Nirma University.

Webinar Series on Advanced Construction Technologies

Civil Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University conducted the following webinars:

• Challenges for Construction of Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad by Mr Subrata Dutta, Project Director, L&T Construction on June 27, 2020.
• Overview of Advanced Construction Technology by Prof Kumar Neeraj Jha, Professor, IIT-Delhi on June 29, 2020.
• Box Pushing Technique by Prof Parul Patel, Professor, Nirma University on July 9, 2020.
• Tunnel Construction using Tunnel Boring Machine by Mr Sunil Dubey, Deputy Project Manager, L&T Construction on July 10, 2020.

Other Webinars   

• “Welding as a Career-The Untold Success” by Mr Devendra Gope, Business Development Manager, Fronius India Private Limited on June 25, 2020 for students of BTech and MTech programme in Mechanical Engg Dept.
• “Micro-Fluidics and Disease Diagnosis” by Prof Amit Agrawal, IIT Bombay; Prof Rajneesh Bhardwaj, IIT Bombay; and Prof Suman Chakraborty, IIT Kharagpur on June 25, 2020 for MTech students and faculty members of Mechanical Engg Dept.
• ?Understanding Cement Test Reports? by Er Pavan Y Sethi, Zonal Head, JK White Cement on June 6, 2020 was organised by the Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology under the Indian Concrete Institute (ICI), Student Chapter, in association with JK White Cement for the students of Civil Engineering Department.
• ?Common Complaints at Site and its Remedies? by Mr Himanshu Patel, Assistant General Manager, Customer Service, Gujarat Head, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd on June 25, 2020 by Indian Concrete Institute Student’s Chapter, Nirma University for Civil Engineering students.
• ?Compendium Monograph Development by QBD Approach? by Mr Bhavik Patel, Senior Scientist, US Pharmacopeia, Drug Product Monograph Section-India at Institute of Pharmacy on June 20, 2020.
• ?Targeting Novel Modalities in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disease: Tolerance Vs Immunogenicity? by Dr Nirav Patel, Associate Director, Clinical Safety and Biomarker Group-Global Investigative Immunology Department, Sanofi, USA on June 23, 2020 at Institute of Pharmacy.
• ?Advancement in Mass Spectrometry with respect to Drug Analysis? by Dr Mayuri Gandhi, Research Scientist, Sophisticated Analytical Instrument facility, IIT Bombay on June 26, 2020 at Institute of Pharmacy.
• ?Securities Market: Financial Solutions for Energy Sector” by Mr Parag Jain,Portfolio Management and Investment Consultant, Mumbai was hosted by Centre for Energy Law Policy and Strategy, Institute of Law on June 8, 2020.
• ?Impact of COVID-19 on Contracts and M&A Transactions? by Advocate Deepti Dole, Corporate Lawyer and Company Secretary was hosted by Centre for Corporate Law Studies, Institute of Law on June 14, 2020.
• “Application of Inclusive International Negotiation in Energy Infrastructure Projects” by Dr Shaoming Zhu,International Legal Affairs and Global Governance Expert, Beijing was hosted by Centre for Energy Law Policy and Strategy, Institute of Law on June 15, 2020.
• Centre of Competition Law and Market Study, Institute of Law, in collaboration with CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC), India conducted a webinar on ?Deal-Value Merger Threshold: Is It the way forward?? on June 16, 2020. The speakers of the webinar were Mr Bharat Bhudolia, Partner at Competition Law/Antitrust at AZB & Partners, Mumbai; Ms Deeksha Manchand, Managing Associate at Competition Law at Chandhiok & Mahajan, Advocates and Solicitors, Delhi; and   Mr Anshuman Sakle, Partner at Competition Law, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Mumbai.
• “Need of Specific Regulations of Artificial Intelligence in India? by Dr Pavan Duggal, Senior Advocate at Supreme Court of India and Chief Executive of Artificial Intelligence Law Hub was conducted by Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Law, Institute of Law on June 17, 2020.
• “Domestic Violence and its Rise in Current Situation? by Advocate Flavia Agnes, Women’s Rights Lawyer and Co-Founder of Majlis, a legal and cultural resource centre; and Advocate Persis Sidhva, Women?s Rights Lawyer at the Supreme Court was hosted by Centre of Criminal Law and Justice, Institute of Law on June 21, 2020.
• ?Federalism: Origin, Evolution and Post-COVID times? by Dr Abhishek Singhvi, Eminent Jurist, third-term sitting MP, Former Chairman- Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, and former ASG of India hosted byCentre for Study of Law and Governance, Institute of Law on June 24, 2020.
• ?Digital Platforms and Priorities in Antitrust Enforcement? by Prof Salil Mehra, Temple University, Beasely School of Law, Philadelphia; Dr Geeta Gouri, Former Member of Competition Commission of India; Dr Baskaran Balasingham, Lecturer at Macquarie University, Australia; and Mr Vikram Sobti, Partner at Chandiok & Mahajan, Advocates and Solicitors, New Delhi was hosted by Centre of Competition Law and Market Study, Institute of Law on June 25, 2020.
• ?Race in America: An Analysis of the US Supreme Court?s Jurisprudence? by Dr Adam Dubin,Assistant Professor, Comillas Pontificial University, Madrid was hosted by Centre for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Institute of Law on June 26, 2020.
• ?Corporate Governance: An idealistic notion or need of the day? by Senior Advocate Tushar Hemani, Founder at Lexperts Law Firm and Former President, ITAT Bar Association, Ahmedabad was hosted by Centre for Corporate Law Studies, Institute of Law on June 28, 2020.
• “Radiation Safety-Regulatory Perspective” by Dr Avinash Sonawane,Head of Directorate of Regulatory Affairs and Communications (AERB, Government of India), Mumbai was hosted by Centre for Energy Law Policy and Strategy, Institute of Law on June 29, 2020.
• Institute of Commerce organised a national webinar on ?Financial Literacy and Fundamentals of Financial Planning? on July 4, 2020 by CA Harish Menon and Mr Bhavesh Rajpal. A total of 160 participants attended the webinar.  The speakers highlighted about the techniques of evaluating shares, categories of stock and mutual funds through a well- constructed PPT.
• ?Environmental Law Practice in India?by Ms Els Reynaers Kini, Partner at MVkini law firm, and cofounder and general secretary of the Nuclear Association of India was hosted by Centre for Environmental Law at Institute of Law on July 15, 2020.
• ?Basics of Testing & Measurement and Instruments? by Rohde & Schwarz was conducted by Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Institute of Technology on July 7, 2020.
• ?Live, Lead and Excel Your Life 360 Degree? by Mr Payank Patel, Director, LYFE _ The Young CEO Club conducted by Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, Institute of Technology on July 17, and July 21, 2020.
• ?How to get ready to succeed in an ever-changing global tech world? by Mr Vipul Patel, Senior Technical Programme Manager, Amazon on July 16, 2020 conducted by Institute of Technology.
• “COVID-19: Infection, Immunity and Vaccines” by Dr Harish Padh, Ex Vice-Chancellor, Sardar Patel Universitywas hosted by Institute of Pharmacy on July 16, 2020. The webinar included talk and discussion on corona virus behavior, disease progression in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients and vaccination.

Research Orientation Programme 2020  

Directorate of Research and Innovation organised an online Research Orientation Programme 2020 (ROP 2020) during June 16, 2020-Aug 29, 2020. The main goal of the programme is to promote research and to improve research outcomes. The programme was divided into three phases. A total of 22 participants from the constituent institutes of the Nirma University underwent the training programme.

Centre of Excellence, Nirma University and Binghamton University Online Monthly Speaker Series

Under these series the following lectures were held in the month of July 2020:

• ?Computer Vision Aided Autonomous Navigation System Using Overhead Cameras and a Raspberry Pi? by  Prof Yong Wang,  Assistant Professor, Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University, USA on July 10, 2020.
• ?Stock Market Prediction Using Machine Learning and Deep Learning? by Dr Priyank Thakkar, Associate Professor, Institute of Technology on July 24, 2020.

 National Conference on Recent Advancements in Materials Science and Nanotechnology  

During the Silver Jubilee Year of Institute of Technology, a National Conference on ?Recent Advancements in Materials Science and Nanotechnology? (RAMAN)-2020 was organised online via Google Meet platform by faculty members of Physics under the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Nirma University, during July 30-August 1, 2020. National agencies such as GUJCOST, and DRDO have funded the project for its execution. Dr Suddhasatwa Basu, Director, IMMT-Bhubaneswar was the chief guest of the inaugural event. Among the 145 abstracts received, 88 abstracts were selected for presentation.