Srijan 2014, the annual techno-management fest organised by the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of Jadavpur University, in association with t2 and The Telegraph — YOU, was held on JU’s Salt Lake campus from February 28 to March 2. Srijan, which stepped into its eighth year, was bigger than ever. “The fest which started in 2007, has grown bigger with every passing year, from level of participation to budget,” said Amritansh Bharech, one of the convenors of Srijan 2014.

From Robo Soccer to Paper Presentations to jaw-dropping special performances, the fest celebrated the varied technical prowess of the student community of Bengal.

While the coding and business events highlighted the participants’ problem-solving abilities, those related to electronics and robotics dealt with a more first-hand approach to practical tech applications.

The preliminary rounds of most of the events were held on the first two days and the finals took place on the last day.

Among the robotic events were Robo Soccer, Auto Traverse, Fast and Furious and Rope Guided Bot. “It took me about four hours to assemble the robot,” said Uddipto Chakraborty, a student of Institute of Engineering and Management, who came second in Fast and Furious last year, and was hoping to go one better this time.

Tandem, a manual robotic event based on the recent Uttarakhand floods, where the robots had to tackle rough terrains and rescue victims, was an interesting event with practical applications.

There were electronics events like Electroniche and Object Detector, coding events like H 42 and Breaking Bug along with Quizzes and Paper Presentation. But the biggest crowd-pullers? The gaming events like FIFA and Counter-Strike.

Among the other events, Joker’s Quest managed to attract a huge number of participants. Divided into teams, this was essentially a treasure hunt where the teams had to solve clues and find a joker which was hidden somewhere on campus.

Paintball too was a big hit .

“This time the participation at Srijan has reached new limits, however I’m also proud that we were associated with organisations like CRY and PETA,” said Vivek Roy, events convenor of Srijan 2014.

The three-day event ended with performances by the JU Dance Group and the dance troupe The Big Bong Theory, who performed modern and street-dance elements. The curtains came down on this edition of Srijan as the volunteers and the participants released floating lanterns in the air, which was followed by a Laser Show that left most onlookers awestruck.