ASME E-Fest Season Opens with Events in India and California

More than 1,000 people attended E-Fest Asia Pacific at Delhi Technological University last month, making it the biggest E-Fest so far.

ASME kicked off the second year of its Engineering Festivals (E-Fest) program last month with two events — E-Fest Asia Pacific in Delhi, India, and E-Fest West in Pomona, Calif. More than 1,600 people attended the two festivals, which featured panel discussions, workshops, networking and social activities, and student competitions such as the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, the Student Design Competition and the Old Guard Competitions.

With more than 1,000 attendees, ASME E-Fest Asia Pacific, which was held March 16-18 at Delhi Technological University, was the largest E-Fest organized so far. Following an opening ceremony featuring representatives from Delhi Technological University including Honorable Vice Chancellor Professor Yogesh Singh, Pro Vice Chancellor S.K. Garg and Pro Vice Chancellor Anu Singh Latherm, economic analyst and business writer Pranjal Sharma delivered the festival’s keynote address.

The team from Vellore Institute of Technology was the overall winner of the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) at E-Fest Asia Pacific. The team also finished first in the design category and third in the men’s speed event.

During his presentation, Sharma, the author of Kranti Nation: India and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, discussed how mobile technology has transformed the world, observing that “the mobile in your hand is fundamentally changing the way we live and work.” After identifying the four major industrial revolutions that have taken place since the late 1800s — involving steam, electricity, computers, and now, the Internet of Things (IOT) — he observed, “The divide we saw because of earlier industrial revolutions between a worker and a manager — that is going away. (The divide between) an engineer and a non-engineer — that is going away. ‘Engineer’ is not an exclusive term anymore. Everybody can do things because the technology is easier to use.”

The opening day of E-Fest Asia Pacific also marked the beginning of the event’s Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) with the arrival and registration of the nearly 40 teams participating in the competition, followed by safety inspections and design presentations by each team to the HPVC judges. Over the course of the next two days, the student teams put their vehicles to the test during three exciting events: men’s and women’s drag races on Saturday, March 17, followed by a two-and-half hour endurance event on Sunday, March 18. At the end of the competition, the team from Vellore Institute of Technology emerged as the overall HPVC winner. The team also placed first in the design category and third in the men’s speed event. The team from B. H. Gardi College of Engineering and Technology placed second overall, as well as third in the women’s speed event and the endurance race. Finishing third overall was the HPVC team from the E-Fest’s host, Delhi Technological University. The team also took first place in the women’s and men’s speed events and third in the design category.

Members of the team from Vasavi College of Engineering prepare their vehicle, Velox 2.0, for the HPVC at E-Fest Asia Pacific.

Other big winners at E-Fest Asia Pacific included Team Jaani Doucheman from Shiv Nadar University, which took home the $500 first prize at the Student Design Competition “Robot Football” challenge; Aliva Dash from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, who received top honors — and a $750 prize — at the Old Guard Oral Competition; Samarpan Dev Majunder from the Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM) Kolkata who finished first in the Old Guard Poster Competition, receiving $300; and Sai Ganesh of Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) Hyderabad, who received $250 as the winner of the event’s Impromptu CAD Battle.

The second E-Fest of the season, E-Fest West, took place from March 23-25 at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Students from the state of South Dakota performed impressively in most of the competitions held at the festival, which drew a crowd of nearly 650 people.

The team from South Dakota State, the overall winner of the HPVC at E-Fest West in Pomona, Calif., also took top honors in the women’s speed event and for innovation.

South Dakota State University’s HPVC team placed first overall at the E-Fest West Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, as well as in the women’s speed event and the innovation category. In addition, the team finishing second in both the men’s speed event and the endurance race and third in the design category. The team from California State University, Northridge, the overall runner-up in the competition, took top honors in the endurance race, and second place in both the women’s speed event and the innovation category. The University of California, Berkeley, team rounded out the top three teams overall and picked up a second-place award for design as well as a special “Craftsmanship Award” for their vehicle.

In addition to its overall win at the E-Fest West HPVC, South Dakota State fared well in the Old Guard Oral Competition, with students Claire Eggleston and Christian Hogan taking home second and third-place prizes, respectively. A student from another South Dakota university, Josiah Horner of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, received the first prize at a different Old Guard-sponsored student contest held at E-Fest West, the Old Guard Poster Competition.

Three representatives from Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI) — Kathy de Paolo, Mike Goslin and Nikki Katz — discussed their careers during the E-Fest West keynote presentation, “Bringing Disney Magic to Families and Fans Through Technology.”

The University of Las Vegas, Nevada took top honors and received a $500 prize at the festival’s other major student contest, the Student Design Competition “Robot Football” challenge. California State University, Northridge’s team placed second in the competition, receiving $300, while the team from Utah State University won the $150 third prize.

The student competitions aside, other highlights of E-Fest West in Pomona included a special student leadership training session titled “Design Thinking” and an E4C: Engineering for Social Change panel session on March 23; a career development workshop led by Tom Munnerlyn of the Career Center at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, a Future Mini-Talks session titled “Making a Successful Transition from College to Career,” and an Impromptu CAD Battle and 3D Workshop hosted by Simon Pun of Divergent 3D on March 24; and the session “Design for the Next Generation of Engineers” sponsored by Siemens featuring John Devitry, a research fellow at Utah State University, on March 25.

Colin Brady of San Jose State University (left) presents his work during the Old Guard Poster Competition at E-Fest West.

Another major attraction at E-Fest West was the keynote luncheon, “Bringing Disney Magic to Families and Fans Through Technology,” featuring three representatives from Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI): Nikki Katz, vice president of technology; Kathy de Paolo, vice president of engineering; and Mike Goslin, DCPI’s vice president of advanced development. During the two-hour presentation, the three executives discussed their experiences as engineers working at Disney, opportunities for women in the engineering field, and hot trends in engineering including social engineering.

The keynote received an enthusiastic response from the students in the audience, including Angel Nunez, a sophomore from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. “The Disney keynote was my favorite so far,” he said. “They did explain their jobs, but they went back a little and explained how they got there. That’s the part most of us want to know; we want to do what you’re doing, but how do we start?” Nunez, who also attended E-Fest West last year, was similarly impressed with the E-Fest program overall, adding, “Keep on doing what you guys are doing. I’m looking forward to my third one next year.”

Doug Stainbrook (right), technical manager for the Solid Edge Academic Team at Siemens PLM Software, shares knowledge with a student at E-Fest West. Siemens was a platinum sponsor of the event.

The third in the series of E-Fests to be held this spring, E-Fest East, will take place from April 13 to 15 at Penn State University in State College, Pa. For more information on the event, or to register, visit https://efesteast.asme.org.