Nov 23, 2023
DST Vigyan Jyothi programme held at NITC
A selected group of girl students from two schools visited NIT Calicut to attend a one-day Programme on ‘Empowering Girls to STEM’. The programme was organized for the students from Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya (JNV), Wayanad and Dayapuram Residential School.
NITC acts as a Knowledge Partner (KP) JNV Wayanad under the Vigyan Jyothi Scheme initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). This program aims to promote the pursuit of higher education and careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among talented female students in grades 9-12 at the school level.
A total of 34 students from JNV Wayanad and 15 students from Dayapuram Residential School, visited NIT Calicut as part of the one-day Programme. ‘Empowering Girls to STEM’ included Motivational Lecture sessions and Lab visits
The programme was opened by Prof. Prasad Krishna, Director of NIT Calicut, at the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department (ECED) Seminar Hall on Wednesday. Addressing the students, Prof. Prasad Krishna pointed out the matriarchical pattern followed in India and the significance of women as decision-makers.
Every woman has the skill for multi-tasking, and they are capable of transforming even their kitchens into laboratories, said Prof. Prasad Krishna. Girls and women have innate skills, and the ability to achieve success in life, adding that Vigyan Jyothi was a platform to kindle this intuitive ability.
Prof. N Sandhyarani, Dean, Research and Consultancy at NITC, talked about the need for such orientation programmes for girls. Women have already proved their ability to achieve heights in Science and Technology, she said mentioning about Marie Curie, who secured two Nobel Prizes in Science. However, when we consider the number of Nobel Laureates, women are only 48 among 892 Nobel Laureates. According to her, the initiative aims at bridging the gap in the number and encourage more women to take up research.
Prof. Sathi Devi P.S., Professor, Department of Electronics and Communication; Prof. Lisa Sreejith, Professor, Department of Chemistry; Dr. Preethi M, CEO, Technology Business Incubator, and Dr. Vrinda Varma, Assistant Professor, Humanities, Arts and Social Science interacted with the students on different topics. Dr. Lintu Rajan, Nodal officer of the Vigyan Jyothi Scheme and Dr. Ilanila I.P., Assistant Professor of Bioscience and Engineering also spoke.
Media reports