KV Rao Society annual science awards presented

The Annual Science Awards included: Science Quiz, School Talent, SPARK Innovation and Research Awards

Hyderabad: Dr. K.V. Rao Scientific Society which has been promoting Science at various levels of education for the past 17 years presented its 18th Annual Science Awards here in the city at B. M. Birla Science Center on Saturday.

Welcoming the gathering Dr. K. Ratna, Secretary of the Society said the Annual Science Awards include awards to research scholars and school students. These awards are presented for celebrating excellence in Science.

Prof Anurag Kumar, Director of Indian Institute of Scicence, Bangalore delivered Dr. K.V. Rao Memorial Oration on Cyber Physical System (CPS) and The Internet of Things(IoT) Technology and Prospects.

Speaking on the subject he said, CPS is an application (IoT is a platform) that is controlled or monitored by computer-based algorithms, tightly integrated with the Internet and its users. The CPS gained national prominence when Prime Minister of India Modi talked about it at Indian Science Congress in January 2017 and recently in 2018 Budge, Union Finance Minister mentioned about it.

CPS has great potential to transform innovators ecosystem. He cited few examples such as Cyber Tyre, which infers road condition, can determine grip and warn about skidding. He also talked about Wireless Tyre Sensors which when fitted to tyres, can harvest energy from its motion , so that there is no need to change car battery.

He also spoke this application in Digital Agriculture, which when used can detect pest activity. It can be used in water networks. It can detect leaks, monitor water quality and can do automatic pumping. He concluded that CPS and IoT are still in the stages of growth like the internet was in 1970s and 1980s.

During the function 12th Annual Science Quiz Awards were presented to the winners, who received Rs 4000 each cash prize and runner-up team will receive Rs 3000 each cash prize. 800 students from across two Telugu states competed for the awards.

15th School Talent Awards were presented to six selected candidates. These six students received a scholarship of Rs 5000 each. Dr. K.V. Rao Society conducts an interactive program for school students selected by TSCOST and APCOST to present the respective states in National Children Science Congress.

7th SPARK Innovation Awards were also be presented to winners, runner-up-I and runner-up-II Rs 10,000, 7,500 and 5000 respectively. 140 teams and 500 students from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala submitted 33 projects. A panel of eminent scientists judged the projects and winner, and two runners-up were picked up for the cash prize.
Research Scholars were presented 18th Annual Research Awards on this occasion. These awards were presented in the broad fields of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics. Research Scholars below 30years from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala are considered for the awards.

120 research students from various research institutes and organizations applied for the awards. Winners in each category will receive Rs 20,000/-, while the other selected research students get Rs 10,000/- each.

Dr. K.V Rao Society has been working hard for the past 17 years for the cause of popularising science among school children and enthusing young minds towards pursuing a career in science.

The Society was founded in the memory of Dr. K.V Rao, an eminent Scientist of yester years who worked with Geological Survey of India by his family members. The family has donated Dr. K.V. Rao’s house worth Rs 2 crore to the society admeasuring 4000 sft, located in Jubilee Hills. This will be used as a Science Laboratory during the day and Hobby Center in the night for the benefit of the underprivileged children.

Dr. K.V Society was started the family of Dr. K.V. Rao with their own funds. This is very rare in the present system. Dr. Rao is an eminent scientist who worked with Geological Survey of India and retired in 1978.