Jamshedpur, Feb. 4: Participants of Technica-2005, a three-day national-level technical symposium organised at National Institute of Technology in the steel city got a chance to visit the Tata Steel plant this morning.

Organising committee officials said the participants were taken for the visit to learn about the latest developments in the manufacturing sector.

The second day of the event also witnessed presentations of a number of technical papers on topics, including zero waste technology and total quality management. Presenting their paper on zero waste technology, L. Archana and K. Kavitha of PSG Engineering College, Coimbatore, said it was a structured approach to minimise energy consumption, effluent discharge, toxic and non-toxic waste in manufacturing processes. They stressed on the importance of the technology to metal processing industries.

Delegates of various institutions, including NIT Rourkela, NIT, Surat, Seemanta Engineering College, Orissa, Government Engineering College, Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering Chandrapur, VNIT, Nagpur, and representatives from corporate houses like Tata Motors, Tinplate Company India Limited also participated in the event.

In the metal quiz, which was organised yesterday, the team from Bhillai Steel Plant won the ?Dr. Dara P. Anita Metal Quiz Contest?. In a brain-racking finish, the team defeated PSG Engineering College, Coimbatore.

Two teams representing NIT, Jamshedpur, jointly shared the third prize. Organising committee treasurer M. Mohan Rao said tomorrow would be the last day of Technica.

Students will present their papers on manufacturing technology. A session on ?Role of Information Technology in Steel Industry? will be held.

The winners of the technical papers will be felicitated.

Chief guest H.M. Nirulkar, chairman state council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will give away the prizes to the winners.

Various contests like crosswords, dumbcharades and a host of cultural events have been lined up for the closing ceremony.

During ?Total Quality Management? (TQM) session, participants from host NIT, Jamshedpur, NIT Surat, PSG Engineering College, Coimbatore, presented their papers.