The Department of Physics in association with IGNITIA – Science Forum, Mangalore Institute of Technology & Engineering, organized “Yuva Tech Challenge” as part of the National Science Day 2026 celebrations on 28th February 2026 at 10:00 AM. The event provided a platform for students to showcase their innovative technological ideas and problem-solving abilities. A total of 36 student teams actively participated in the challenge, demonstrating enthusiasm, creativity, and technical competence
The event was graced by Dr. Shayan Srinivas Garani, Professor, Department of Electronic Systems, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, who served as the resource person and evaluator. Dr. Garani obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and completed his M.S. from the University of Florida. He has held senior engineering and leadership roles in leading global organizations such as Broadcom Corporation, STMicroelectronics, and Western Digital. He has also actively contributed to professional technical communities, serving as Chairman for Signal Processing at IDEMA-ASTC and Chair of the IEEE Data Storage Technical Committee. His research interests include channel engineering for physical data storage systems, quantum information processing, neural networks, learning systems, and music signal processing
The Yuva Tech Challenge encouraged students to identify real-world problems and propose innovative technology-driven solutions. Through this activity, participants enhanced their critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities while also strengthening their teamwork and collaboration skills. The event provided an opportunity for students to present their ideas before an expert panel, which helped them develop confidence and improve their technical presentation and communication skills. The interaction with the resource person also provided valuable feedback and insights into refining their ideas and exploring practical implementation possibilities
The event was coordinated by Dr. L. Guru Prasad, Event Coordinator, and concluded successfully with active participation and enthusiastic engagement from the students. The challenge served as an excellent platform to promote innovation, encourage scientific thinking, and inspire students to develop technology-based solutions for real-world challenges.