CONSORTIA – Transforming minds, Translating Ideas-An Intercollegiate Biotechnology Fest organized by the Biotechnology Department of Pillai College
CONSORTIA – The Intercollegiate Biotechnology fest was organized by the Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Association for the UG and PG students of Biotechnology on 18th February, 2020 in the campus of Pillai college, New Panvel. The fest was organized with the goal of providing a platform to the students of biotechnology for exchanging ideas and showcasing their extraordinary talents and skills. The events were organized with an aim to inculcate research culture in the young minds, helping them to create their own learning experiences and innovations, just as scientists do in the real world.
The program unfolded with the inauguration by the Chief Guest for the event-Dr. Mansee Thakur, I/c Director & Asso. Prof. (Biotechnology). MGM School of Biomedical Sciences, Navi Mumbai. She has completed her PhD in Medical Biotechnology and has been associated with MGM Institute of Health Sciences since the past 10 years as the Head of the Department for M.Sc. Medical Biotechnology. Currently her thrust area of research is to develop a handheld MGM-TB Detection System (MGM-TBDS) in service of India and is actively working to understand the mechanisms and toxicity studies for various nanoparticles.
The program was set in motion by the first event that was organized which was called ‘Catch Phrase’. In this event, the students had to participate in a pair where one participant reads a name, phrase or process and the other participant in the pair will try to guess the clue. The twist was introduced when it was told that the conveyor could use all other words than the actual name, phrase or process. This game took all the brainstorming one could put in.
The next event organized was called ‘Picsophilic’. In this game, the participating students would be tested on their photography and creative skills. The theme given was ‘FRIENDSHIP’. The students had to participate individually, and a theme or topic would be disclosed to them then and there. The participants had to click pictures that best depicted or described the topic given and they would be judged on the showcasing of their skills. The Judge for the Event was Mrs. Akshata Narkar who has a master’s degree in mass communication and Journalism and used to work as a Project Manager in an advertising firm before she took teaching to be her full-time profession.
The third program organized was called as ‘Biorangoli’. The students had participated in pairs and had to make and present their Rangoli on the theme given to them on an area allotted consized to 1m×1m. This could be put as the most artistic, innovative and creative event for the day as the themes given to them were Ecology and Physiology. The judge for this event was Prof. Vidya Mohd who has completed her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the Department of Life Sciences, North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon and has a teaching experience of almost 12 years. She was the Coordinator for the Department of Biotechnology in Vispute College for 2 years and is currently working as the Vice Principal in Vispute College.
The fourth event for the day was ‘Labathon’ in which also a team of two students had to participate and were given different Laboratory based tasks which had to be completed one after the other. The team which manages to complete all the tasks with perfect technique in the shortest possible time would be declared as the winners of the task. Here, all the years of hard work and technique perfection of the students was put to test.
The final event for the day was ‘Luck Ladder’ in which the event was even more amusing than what its name suggests. Here, the students had to participate in a team of three people. This game could be called as ‘A twisted version of Snakes and Ladders’ as each step consists of a twist in the form of a question. One player from each group would perform on the field and not more than a minute would be given to each contestant to answer the questions. If the question had not been answered, a task was given to the group to perform which could be nicknamed as ‘lifelines’ in the game. After the number 70 on the board, the option of lifelines was taken away and all that was left was answering the asked questions. A ladder would take you ahead without a question and a snake would take you down from wherever you stood. The first team to reach the number 100 would win the game.
After the concluding of all these games, the students that had participated and won were rewarded with certificates and cash prize. That’s how another beautiful and fruitful day had come to its end.
Biotechnology Association of Pillai College of Arts, Science and Commerce organized Gender Sensitization Awarenesses for the Students of Biotechnology on 21st December, 2019 in the Auditorium of Pillai College.
The Program was conducted by The Jimmy Foundation. The foundation is basically an organization that works at ensuring a life free of prejudice and abuse for everybody, irrespective of caste, religion, region or species. The event was lead by a motivational speaker and gender, sexuality trainer named Harish Iyer who is also the founder of the organization. He made the students aware regarding notions of sexism and how we need to be sensitized towards our fellow genders. He fathomed us about how we need not be pressurized under the stereotypical beliefs of the society and introduced us to engaging terminologies like being Gender Fluid, Cis-gender, Gender queer, how being gender neutral and respecting each and every gender is crucial to live a virtuous life.
Other guests of honour included Mr. Rakesh Sharma (Founder of Lilac Insights Pvt. Ltd.), Ms. Riya Sharma and Trupati Inamdar (Scientific support executive – Lilac Insights Pvt. Ltd).
Mr. Rakesh Sharma and Ms. Riya Sharma shared their life experience and struggles and motivated and guided students to overcome such challenges.
A skit competition under the theme of Gender equality was also conducted for the students. The competition was judged by Mr. Harish Iyer and Ms. Trupati Inamdar. Winning team was awarded with cash prize and certificates. Participation certificates were given to all the participants.
The workshop was highly enlightening and intellectually stimulating for the students of our college.
Biotechnology Association of Pillai College of Arts, Science and Commerce conducted a singing competition on Friday, 27th September, 2019 in the Auditorium. About 12 participants took part in the competition where 9 were solo participants and 3 were in group. The Judge for the event was Mrs. Pushbam Shivkumar who is trained in carnatic music and also performs in stages shows.
The event began at 10:30 with a welcome address followed by an introduction of the competition by Mrs. Meenakshi Johri, In-charge of Biotechnology Association. Participants were given 5 mins and were allowed to sing in any language. Participants sang various songs of different genre ranging from classical to rock and made the whole atmosphere melodious. The audeinece were enthralled by each of the performance.
After all performance, even the teachers showed their hidden talents and amazed the kids. There were two solo prizes which was won by Sharanya Nair, MSc-1 student and Chrismon Shaji, FY.Bsc student. The group prize was won by Faiza and Group from S. Y. B.Sc.
The event ended with vote of thanks given by Mrs. Suparna Deepak, coordinator of BSc. People enjoyed and left for the day with amazing memories.
“Greater the start, mind-blowing is the end!”, as we all know this, the first event of biotechnology department made this come true! The first and the very most stupendous event “FREESTYLE DANCE” held by the Biotechnology association of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science stood as the kick-start for the academic year 2019-20. The event was organized on 13th July, 2019 from 9.00 a.m. onwards in the Auditorium of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science. The Teacher In-charge of Biotechnology Association, Ms. Meenakshi Johri conveyed the purpose of the Association to the fresher’s and requested them to participate in the forthcoming events with enthusiasm. She also introduced the student In-charges from all the classes who would be handling the events of the Biotechnology Association. The guest of honour and the judge for the event was Mr. Sanket Pawar a dance teacher and a choreographer. Having trained by Shamak Dawar’s Institute of Dance, he has choreographed for few films and has his own dance academy in Vichumbe, Panvel. Total 12 groups participated for the competition and showcased their talent Crowd was cheered with absolute energy and craze as the students graced the floor. Moments wrapped in those 120 minutes now became a lifetime token of memory for all the students, teachers and staff members. Being amazed by back to back enthralling performances, the judge guide lined about dancing and advised everyone about the things to be kept in mind during dance performance. Having distributed the prizes and capturing smiles in photographs, this memorable event came to an end.
| Position | Name of the students | Class |
|---|---|---|
| First | Prajakta Pawar, Nikita Tandel, Bhagyashree Hiremat, Vaishnavi Shinde, Dnyaneshwari Shunde | T.Y. B.Sc. |
| Shruti Shetty, Soumya Nair, Aditi K, Prachi Sarag, Lavanya Prachetti | S.Y. B.Sc. | |
| Second | Prakhanti Raju, Nidhi Sharma | S.Y. B.Sc. |
| Vaishnavi Murugan, Sneha Mohan, Devika Nair | S.Y. B.Sc. |
Biotechnology Association in association with Department of Biotechnology organized a poster making competition – “Vistas in Biotechnology” on 9th March 2019, Saturday. Students from F.Y., S.Y. and M.Sc. – I participated in the event. The event began by 10 am and the judge for the event was Mr. Abhilash Das, Field Application Specialist – Biopharma, Spinco Biotech Pvt. Ltd. He is an alumnus of the department of Biotechnology. Posters on diverse topics were put up and students were given 7 minutes to explain their topic and three minutes to answer questions put forth by the judge.
Mr. Abhilash Das, Field Application Specialist - Biopharma, Spinco Biotech Pvt. Ltd. sharing his insights
Student participant explaining her poster to Mr. Abhilash Das
Student participant during question answer session
Mr. Abhilash Das presenting certificate and cash prize to the winners of poster making competition - "Vistas in Biotechnology"
Prof. Meenakshi Johri presenting token of honour to Mr. Abhilash Das
Posters presented were on:
- Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome
- Plastic vs Bio-plastic
- Genetically Modified Organisms
- Crispr Technology
- Enzymes in Food Biotechnology
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus
- Biolumine Scence
- Waste Management
- Enzyme-substrate Interactions
- How’s the Health!
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Anti-cancerous Properties of Carrot & Beetroot
The posters were judged and the results were announced soon. The first prize was awarded to Tanushri Rakshaskar and Rakshita Shetty from M. Sc. Part 1 for their poster “Anti-cancerous properties of carrot & beetroot” and the second prize was awarded to the Akhila Nair and Aditi Raju from F.Y. B.Sc. for their poster “Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome”. Both the winners were given a cash prize and a certificate. Mr. Abhilash gave personal comments and suggestions to all the participants to improve their poster making skills. The event was a great success and students got an opportunity to learn many new things.
Consortia – transforming minds, translating idea for the academic year 2018-19 was held on 15th February, 2019. The registration began at 8:30 a.m. for all the events.
Consortia means “Association or Conglomeration” and serving justice to its meaning this fest is organised with the goal of providing a platform for the students to exchange ideas and showcase their hidden talents and skills.
Inauguration ceremony of Consortia 2019
Dr. Neetin S. Desai, Director, Amity Institute of Biotechnology sharing his insights on Biotechnology
Event Chain Reaction
Event Bio poem
Event Read My Lips
Event Biorangoli
Event Zoom-In
Event Chocolate Making
Group Picture of the Teaching and Non-Teaching staff of Biotechnology Association
The Chief Guest for the fest was Dr. Neetin S. Desai, Director, Amity Institute of Biotechnology. The fest began at 9:30 a.m. with the inauguration at the auditorium of lighting the lamp. The chief guest was felicitated by Mrs. Meenakshi Johri, In-charge of Biotechnology Association. It was followed by 2 minutes of silence for the martyred soldiers of the Pulwama attack. The chief guest Dr. Neetin S. Desai enlightened the students with a small talk about the importance of Biotechnology. The official inauguration was done with a welcome speech by Mrs. Meenakshi Johri, the in charge of the Biotechnology Association.
The first event of the fest was ZOOM IN which was based on the theme “EMOTIONS”. Participants were of given time duration of 2.5 hours. It was followed by CHAIN REACTION. This event was extremely interesting and was to evaluate the memory power of the participants. The next event was BIOPOEM which was judged by Ms. Rupali Nanekar, Assistant Professor, CKT College and Ms. Suparna Deepak, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology. The stage was set on fire by the winner and the runner up. The event was enjoyed by all. Following it was READ MY LIPS. The event had the maximum participants with two rounds of elimination. Refreshments were provided to all the participants.
The creative events were conducted in the lab and corridor. CHOCOLATE MAKING was conducted in the lab and the judge for the event was Dr. Seema Somani, Associate Professor from Commerce Department, PCACS and Ms. Bhakti Hirani, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology. BIORANGOLI was conducted in the corridor and class as there were many participants. The judge for the event was Ms. Rupali Nanekar and Ms. Ashwathi Gangadharan, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology. Both the event participants were given 1 hour. During this the participants of Zoom In presented the photographs and the event was judged by Mr. Jacob, Cinematographer and Mr. Gopakumar Pillai, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology. Chocolate making was the best event because everyone had chocolates and the participants enjoyed the event.
The fest was brought to an end by a valedictory speech by the president of Biotechnology Association, Ms. Hema Patil. Everyone went home with a smile and lovely memories making the fest ‘Consortia- Transforming minds, translating ideas’ a successful one.
List of Winners
| Event’s Name | Student’s Name | College | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain Reaction | Sunisha Jain (S.Y.) | PCACS | 1st Prize |
| Akshada Pingle (M.Sc. I) | PCACS | 2nd Prize | |
| Biopoem | Vishakh Jainachandran (T.Y.) Premkumar Torane (T.Y.) | PCACS | 1st Prize |
| Yash More (M.Sc. I) | PCACS | 2nd Prize | |
| Zoom In | Abhishek Lad (T.Y.) | PCACS | 1ST Prize (DSLR) |
| Kajol Kadam (S.Y.) | PCACS | 1ST Prize (Mobile) | |
| Read My Lips | Aditi Raju (F.Y.) Akhila Pillai (F.Y.) | ||
| Bhagyashree Hiramat (S.Y.) Mrudula Mangesh (S.Y.) | |||
| Bio Rangoli | Jinal Shah (T.Y.) Huda Ahmed (T.Y.) | PCACS | 1st Prize |
| Akansha Atkar (F.Y.) Gulshan Ansari (F.Y.) | PCACS | 2nd Prize | |
| Chocolate Making | Anamika Chavan (S.Y.) Sakshi Pabrekar (S.Y.) | PCACS | 1st Prize |
| Jacqueline Babai (T.Y.) Pooja Mugundan (T.Y.) | PCACS | 2nd Prize | |
| Krupa Randhe (T.Y.) | PCACS | Consolation |
The second most enthralling event of Biotechnology Association named ‘BIO-SKIT’ was conducted on 4th October, 2018, Friday, in the Auditorium of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science at 11.00 a.m. Each and everyone experienced an amazing kind of learning technique. Apart from the regular chalk and board learning method, ‘BIO SKIT’ was planned to make students learn biological processes and mechanisms in a dramatic way by various acts performed by the students itself. It also gave the students the opportunity to showcase their acting talents. The event was inaugurated by lighting the “DIYA” by the faculty in the auditorium. Acts performed included a variety of topics focusing on drug addiction, mechanism of cancer and various other immunological processes which affected health. Audience gave a loving response as the acts included comedy punchlines, songs, poems and mind blowing scenes. There were total six teams consisting of 8 members each. The event was hosted by very talented S.Y. B.Sc. students Miss. Bhagyashree and Pristo Paul which added extra zeal to the event. Based on the concept and the perfect performing skills, the judges for the event, Mr. Gopakumar Pillai and Dr. C. K. Prashanth evaluated the performances and gave kind remarks to the participants for their hard work and tips for giving a better show next time. All the classes of Biotechnology participated with huge enthusiasm and even the first year students showed an active participation and enacted very well according to their level of understanding the subject. By promising to keep the zeal same for the rest of the year, the event concluded with a group photograph of all the participants and the teachers and bunch of happy minds filled with inspiring knowledge.
Biotech Department students performing the act
Students giving a performance in ‘Bio-Skit’
A group picture of all the student participants
The first and the very most stupendous event “Folk Dance” held by the Biotechnology Association of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science stood as the kick-start for the academic year 2018-19. The event was organized on 27th July, 2018 from 11:30 onwards in the Auditorium of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science. With the arrival of neoteric – fresher’s, Biotechnology department had a very rejuvenating day full of thrill and enthusiasm.
Students performing Rajasthani Folk Dance
Biotechnology students performing the vibrant Bhangra Dance
Maharashtra’s Koli Dance bags the 1st Prize in the Folk Dance Competition
Group photo of all the participants and the teachers
Inauguration of the event was done in the presence of all the respected teachers and coordinators of the Biotechnology Department by lightening the eternal diya. The Teacher In-charge of Biotechnology Association, Ms. Meenakshi Johri conveyed the purpose of the Association to the fresher’s and request them to participate in the forthcoming events with enthusiasm. She also introduced the student In-charges from all the classes who would be handling the events of the Biotechnology Association. The guest of honour and the judge for the event was Ms. Ramya S. Kumar, who has mastered folk dance. The other judge for the event was the alumni and the staff of the department Miss. Ashwathy Gangadharan, who is a classical dancer with 16 years of experience. Being hosted by T.Y.B.Sc. student Miss. Kanimalar and S.Y.B.Sc. student Pristo Paul, the show got its perfect catalyst to increase the crowd’s avidity. Variant types of folk dances such as Rajasthani, Koli, Bhangra, Lavani and Garba were performed by the students of S.Y.B.Sc., T.Y.B.Sc. and M.Sc.Biotechnology. Each region has its own uniqueness and style which was amazingly depicted by all the participants.
Within the short span of time, students gave their all to make this event look vibrant and alluring. Maharashtra’s Koli dance bagged first prize followed by the Punjab’s Bhangra, which won as the runner-up for the event. The show came to an end with the promising vibe of keeping the energy constant for the rest of the year and concluded with a group photo of all the participants and the teachers.
The Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Association of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science (PCACS) proudly organized Consortia – Transforming minds, translating ideas an Intercollegiate Biotechnology Fest on 13th January, 2018.
Consortia means “association or conglomeration” and serving justice to its meaning this fest is organised with the goal of providing a platform for the students to exchange ideas and showcase their hidden talents and skills.
The fest began with the inauguration ceremony at 10:00 a.m. with Dr. Gajanan Wader, in charge Principal of PCACS and the chief guest Dr. Archana Ashtekar, HOD of Biotechnology Department of Jai Hind College, Churchgate gracing the event.
With new additions to the list of events, the fest began with the Bio-jockey contest where a participant had to explain a topic under the roof of Biotechnology in a radio jockey style so as the layman can understand. Dr. Gajanan Wader and Dr. Archana Ashtekar were the judges for this event. This was followed by the event of Drama Mantra also known as dumb charades of Biotechnology where a team of 2 members are supposed to explain a word to their partner through actions.
The event in line was Bio-Jewellery and Zoom-in. Bio-jewellery saw participants making jewellery out of bio-degradable waste. It was judged by Mr. Gopalkrishnan Pillai, a trustee of MES Institutions and a faculty member of PCACS.
Zoom-in was a photography competition where the participants were given the topic of “SOLITUDE” and were asked to click pictures based on it. The judge for this competition was Ms. Alpana Sharma, Co-ordinator of B.M.M. Department, PCACS.
The last event of Consortia was Talaash – the treasure hunt where 2 teams went ahead to bag the 1st prize.
Congratulating the Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Association for organising a great day of fun within a short span of time.
Hoping and wishing next year’s Consortia to be even more successful.
Vistas in Biotechnology a poster competition was held at Pillai’s College of Arts, Commerce and Science (PCACS) by the Department of Biotechnology and the Biotech Association on 21st December, 2017.
The topics for this competition were wide open under the roof of Biotechnology and participants put up posters based Nanotechnology, Immunology and Virology etc.
The judges for this competition were Dr. Rishikesh Patilan Inspire faculty at ACTREC, Kharghar and Dr. C. K. Prashanth faculty member of Department of Biotechnology at PCACS. The judges were not only enthralled but amazed by the posters put up by the participants.
Vistas was inaugurated by Dr. Rishikesh Patil and the competition began at 10:00 a.m.
Students from colleges like IOS, Tilak, MGM and Jhunjhunwala participated for this competition making it a major success.
Looking forward for even more wonderful competition in the coming years.
