Sambalpur: A short-term course on Soft Computing Techniques for Engineering Problems kicked off on Thursday at the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) on Thursday.

The course will cover various software computing techniques for problem solving in various fields.

The soft computing techniques are fault tolerant, less costly and imitate the human brain and intelligent thinking, course co-ordinator Ajit Kumar Barisal said.

Vice-chancellor Bibhuti Bhusan Pati inaugurated the course, which would help solve various problems of society and create innovation.

The course will also teach the participants to learn and upgrade their knowledge in the field of soft computing.

More than 60 participants from various universities from different states are attending the six-day course, being jointly organised by the varsity's departments of electrical engineering and information technology.

Pati, in his inaugural address, said the course would help predict flood in rivers and into the reservoirs, ups and downs in the stock market, probable crop yield and canal command area power fluctuation and demand.

Head of the electrical engineering department Rabindra Kumar Sahu underlined the contribution of electrical engineering to society, while information technology department head Himansu Sekher Behera said the latest trends in soft computing would be taught in the course.