The students of Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College (JGEC) honoured 10 of their alumni — who were part of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission — by organising a rocket-launch competition on the campus on Friday.
The event was part of ‘Start Srishti’, the college’s annual tech fest, which is being held from November 26 to November 30. The mechanical, electrical and civil engineering departments organised the programme.
A student organiser said the event, named ‘Sputnik’, was dedicated to the 10 JGEC alumni serving in ISRO.
“They were part of India’s lunar mission team. Sputnik was organised to honour them,” said Shatabrata Chatterjee, a third-year mechanical engineering student.
Participants made rockets using plastic bottles fitted with fins. The bottles were filled up to 70 per cent with water and then pressurised with air using hand pumps. The sudden release of pressure sent the makeshift rockets soaring across the field.
During the competition, the college ground resembled a mock launch field, with water-propelled rockets shooting across the field and students sprinting to measure landing distances with ribbons and lime powder.
“There were 50 participants, and one rocket travelled over 500 metres,” an organiser said.
Debapriya Majhi, a second-year electrical engineering student, said the event encouraged students to explore low-cost engineering innovations.
“Space missions cost a lot. We built rockets using only water and air pressure. It’s a basic preparation for creating a real spacecraft at low cost. One day, Indian scientists may develop a sophisticated version of this method,” he said.
Joint coordinators Ankit Ghosh and Sourshish Ghatak said over 100 students from Kalyani, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Siliguri and other institutions participated in the fest.
JGEC principal Amitabh Roy said the participation of 10 alumni in Chandrayaan-3 was a matter of pride for the institution.
Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by ISRO. The spacecraft was launched in 2023.
“The technology the students used today is playful, but if a modern version of this concept is developed, it can benefit the country,” Roy said.