KIET students shine again!; A team of five students felicitated by Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India

New Delhi: It was a momentous day for the students of Krishna Institute of Engineering technology today, as they were felicitated by President Shri Ram Nath Kovind for winning the prestigious 2019 AIAA Neil Armstrong Best Design Award, in the 25th Annual Rover Challenge held at the US Space and Rocket Center in Alabama. The students were honored at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 9 July 2019 for securing first prize amongst 115 teams.
The team from KIET Group of Institutions, Delhi-NCR, Ghaziabad a pioneer in engineering, was led by mechanical engineering student Shatakshi Dwivedi and consisted of her team associates Abhimanyu Bhagat, Utkarsh Sharma, Prajwal Singh and Suyash Yadav. Their project “Moon Buggy” was hailed for its excellent performance amongst the international competition, featuring teams from Germany, Bolivia, Peru, Egypt and the US.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Atul Garg, Management Trustee, KIET Group of Institutions said, “It is a proud moment for us and we are grateful for the honor that has been bestowed upon us. Our students have consistently shown that if our young minds are given the right environment and motivation, they can come up with ideas that are brilliant! This acknowledgement will boost not only the confidence of the team, but will inspire all the students across the country who dare to dream, regardless of where they come from,” he said.
NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge is a follow up to its Great Moonbuggy Race, challenging college students to create a rover designed to traverse the simulated surface of another world. The rover had to be compact in size, had to take minimum assembly time and could be manually pedaled by two members for a distance of 800 meters in less than 7minutes. It was supposed to perform the tasks of a rover and simultaneously cross obstacles laid down on its way.
Team Interstellars from KIET Group of Institutions won the AIAA Neil Armstrong Best design award as they succeeded in preparing Foldable Crank Assembly with assembly time of 9 seconds that was the minimum time in comparison to 30-40 seconds taken by the other participating teams. It also had the most Compact Size which did not affect the ergonomics that was much appreciated by the judges.
Tuhin Srivastava, who has been a part of the journey and was the KIET’s team advisor during the challenge said, “It’s an incredible end to what has been an incredible journey. It has been an overwhelming experience and the fact that our achievement has been recognized by our respected President is both humbling and joyous. I am extremely proud of the team and grateful for the support of their families and the KIET faculty and leadership. It is our collective dream that has helped us reach this far.”
The team was accompanied by the management members along with Dr. (Col) A Garg, Director, KIET Group of Institutions for their felicitation ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
KIET Group of Institutions is one of the premier destinations for young minds, offering courses in Engineering, management and pharmacy. It continuously strives for the welfare of its students providing them with best opportunities both on the national and international platforms.