We as Engineers are the creators of tomorrow, as we are tasked with achieving one of the most important goals of humanity: advancement in technology. In doing so, more often than not we exploit the Laws of Nature and Physics in ways that are explosive to say the least. Fire is Nature’s most fundamental way of retaliation in these scenarios. Working with Electrical and Electronic Devices has a definite hazard of sudden and unstable fires and we as futureEngineers must be equipped with the knowledge of preventing and controlling them.This is what the Fire and Safety Authority of India sought to teach the SEs through a Workshop and Contest on ‘Building Automation and Fire and Electronic Security’ on Saturday, the 13th of October 2018 at the SP Jain Auditorium.

The day was even more special as it fell on the International Day for Disaster Reduction. This was a part of their Activity Based Learning Course, a non-credit course with an evaluation at the end.
The day began sharply at 9 in the morning at the SP Jain auditorium with the inauguration as enthusiastic students filled the room with excitement and curiosity. The much awaited event commenced with a speech by Mr. Vivek Save, Manager of the Utility Department at Reliance Industries Limited, who talked about the importance of Industrial Safety for Engineers and suggested ways to ensure it.

The dais was then handed over to Mr. Rajesh Shirke, theVice-Chairman of the FSAI, who talked about Women’s Safety and how it can and must be ensured in today’s day and age.
The next speaker of the day was Mr.Pramoud Rao, Director of Zicom Group who presented to the students an exciting TED Talk about one of the most fascinating and promising fields in the realm of Engineering: Internet of Things.

The congregation then broke for lunch at 12 in the afternoon as they awaited the most important and interesting part: The assessment of the Student Projects as the part of the Contest by the FSAI Mumbai Chapter Experts.The students had to do present their views on fire safety in the form of a project. The students had the choice of choosing from Four Project Blueprints. These included group activities like Short Film Making, a Skit Performance and a Poster Presentation.

The contest also incorporated a Case Study Presentation, where students had to take up a real incident related to a fire breaking out, identify the causes and come up with intuitive ways to prevent them in the future. They also had the option of creating an interactive application related to fire safety. A particularly thought-provoking quote was given by Sparsh Pahalwan- “The Little Fire You Leave May Leave You Little”. The students displayed great enthusiasm and showcased their talents with their acting skills, creative posters and films and detailed analytic skills. They competed with each other to impress the judges and to come out with the best project. The judges assessed the projects on various factors such as creativity, content and the message of the overall project.

At end of all the presentations, the winners of each contest were announced. In film making,
Abhishek Gupta, Pranjal Chaudhari and Ajay Chaudhari won the first prize while Manav Jain’s team won the best skit prize. In case study, Siddhant Bhagat, Urja Kulkarni and Kaushik Jha bagged the first place. Raksha Jain, Sparsh Pahalwan, Akash Junnarkar were declared as the winners of the poster presentation competition.

– Akash, Kamal, Kaustaubh and Ramanansri