Students display their science projects at the fair on Thursday. Picture by Rajiv Konwar

Jan. 10: It was a fair to give exposure to young talents who are fascinated and intrigued by science.

With display of 35 models created by students from 12 districts, a three-day state-level science fair started on the premises of the Regional Science Centre today.

Altogether 70 students participated in the fair which was inaugurated by Tezpur University vice-chancellor Mihir Kanti Chaudhury.

The fair is an annual event of the science centre aimed at providing a platform to the young minds to inculcate scientific temper and showcase their talent.

It is being organised in collaboration with the directorate of secondary education.

The models were simple and highlighted various topics — generating electricity, purifying water, making the city clean and keeping the globe green among others. The participating students explained their projects to curious visitors.

Aman Sohail Haque and Maitraya Prasad Goswami, two Class IX students of Srimanta Sankar Academy, displayed how sewage water can be used as potable water after proper purification. “During the process of making the model we consulted science books of higher classes. We also took help of the Internet. That is how we learnt about new things,” Aman said.

Nayana Bhattacharjee and Jayote Paul, two Class IX students of Bengali Girls High School in Tezpur, participated in the fair. “We are showing how energy can be generated with the help of a windmill,” Nayana said.

Subhasis Borah and Bitupan Das, two Class X students from Namgorumora BB High School in Jorhat, participated in the fair with their model showing how to convert labour energy into mechanical energy.

In the inaugural programme organised at the auditorium, the students listened to Chaudhury, retired principal of Cotton College Anil Kumar Goswami, director of Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC), H.C. Dutta, and project coordinator of the science centre, V.S. Sharma.

“Friends, India is in your hands...” Chaudhury said, adding: “It all depends on how hard working you are and how you want to make things happen.” Chaudhury told the students that India is the greatest human resource producer and if the students motivate themselves in a proper way, follow proper role models and have competitive minds to turn their dreams into reality, they would be able to achieve many things.

Chaudhury, however, said the number of participants was few considering the fact that the city itself has so many schools. He said although students of Assam are as talented as students of other parts of the country, they lack motivation and do not have proper role model to follow.

Dutta explained to the students how Goswami had tried for a plot of land to set up the ASTEC and Guwahati Planetarium. Goswami talked about inception of the council.