COMET (Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Technology), the biennial conference of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IT BHU was conducted successfully from the 27th to the 29th of January, 2006.
In its infant stages, COMET serves as a platform for discussions on the up and coming trends in engineering, especially those with implications for mechanical engineers through paper presentation contests in various categories. An astounding 100 papers were presented over the 3 days with a lion’s share coming from outstation participants who numbered 90, with representation from places as diverse as Coimbatore, Pune and Kharagpur.
The paper presentation contest was organized in various categories like material sciences, advanced manufacturing systems, automobiles, nanotechnology, robotics and automation etc. Keeping in tune with modern times, COMET also had software and design contests besides trivia contests in the form of quizzes and puzzles.
However, the major attraction was undoubtedly the guest lectures from industrialists and engineers who read the who’s who in their respective fields. The inaugural was graced by the presence of Mr. Ramji Rao, director-engg, R&D, BHEL Delhi. The industrial presentations were conducted by the likes of Dr. Sanjay Chandra (TATA Steel, Jamshedpur), R. K. Malhotra (CGM, R&D, IOCL, Faridabad), Debashish Bhattacharya (DGM, Siemens, Delhi) and Dharmendra Hans (L&T, Lucknow); top executives with a BHU connection. The alumnus connection was not missed out in the valedictory either with citizen of the year, Mr. Ashok Saxena (CMD, HAL, Bangalore) distributing the prizes.
The conference under the able stewardship of Mr.Nitin Srivastava (student convener), Mr. Hemanshu Dhawan (student co- convener) and Prof. R.S Singh had its dose of fun and frolic too with the cultural night, in which students and professors set their inhibitions aside and displayed their finer talents. The ingenuity that went into the coining of the various events also elicited praise from various quarters including the director with the modulus of festivity (cultural night) and drill bits (software contest). The presence of sponsors like BHEL, ONGC, SBI, HAL, TATA Steel, Power grid and Bhushan Steel ensured that funds were not at a paucity which was evident in the grandeur surrounding the conduct of the event. If the promises of the incumbent organizers of COMET 2008 are anything to go by, the shining streak that passed will only be on heralded with greater hope in the future.