Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: Authorities at the College of Basic Science and Humanities are making all efforts to upgrade the institute into a centre of excellence.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Bikash Chandra Panda, the director of the college, said the institute had been sanctioned Rs 2 crore under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (Rusa) grants, out of which Rs 41 lakh had already been released in the first phase.

"The money will be utilised for setting up a well-equipped computer lab, while Rs 50 lakh from the Indian Council of Agriculture (ICAR) is being used to set up two smart classrooms and a knowledge centre apart from carrying out some renovation work," Panda said.

The authorities are hoping for the approval of the Rs 55 crore proposal sent to the UGC that would ensure hostel facilities at the institute. "The interaction with UGC is scheduled in March and we are keeping our fingers crossed to turn our college into a centre of excellence," Panda said.

At the ongoing annual celebrations, the institute organised the first ever inter-college science exhibition in the city. Students of various colleges came up with innovative projects, majority of which were solutions energy and pollution crises.

Chinmay Chiranjiv and Akash Kumar Nayak from Mother's Public School came up with an interesting concept of "Piezo electric tyres".

"These days there is a huge demand for hybrid cars and several varieties of electric vehicles are now available in the market. However, these vehicles consume a huge amount of electricity," said Chinmay. "We have come up with the concept of Piezo electric tyres that automatically charge the cars when in motion," said Akash.

Kalipada Chatterjee and Satyabrata Mohapatra of the College of Basic Science and Humanities have designed an e-Cruizer. "E-Cruizer is an advanced bus that uses battery that recharges using wind energy. As the bus moves, the windmills on the bus roof will generate power. This system of recharging is cost effective and an all-weather system," said Kalipada.

Prateek Pandav and Sankalp Hota from DAV School, Pokhariput, devised a model that deals with simple mechanics to generate electricity at homes and thereby minimising the dependency on power supply.

"This science fair is an effort to provide a platform to students who are passionate about science and innovation. We felt a need to host such an event so that students can come together and there can be exchange of ideas," Panda said.