Winners of the IET South Asia ‘Present Around the World’ (PATW) Competition Announced

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) announced Shubham Saraff, 3rd year student of Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai as the winner of the IET South Asia 'Present round the World (PATW) 2017 finals in a ceremony that took place at My Fortune Hotel, Bangalore. PATW is a global presentation competition for students, graduates and young professionals aged 18-30 years and aims to provide a platform to showcase and explore their talent and innovative thinking.

Shubham Saraff’s winning presentation focused on the topic “Neuron that shape our Civilization”.

He was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 40,000 (£ 400) and will now compete in the global finals to be held in London during November  this year for a cash prize of Rs. £1,000 (approx. Rs. 100,000/-). Kshipra Rajhans, 4^th year student from K K Wagh Institute of Engineering Education & Research, Nashik was declared runner up for her presentation on the topic “Smart City” and was awarded with the cash prize of Rs. 30,000 (£300).

The competition aims to instill a sense of culture of application for engineers, where they use their technical knowledge to solve a social problem and develop their communication skills in the process. As part of the competition, the individual competitors give a presentation for 10 minutes on a subject related to engineering and technology.

The IET, having taken the initiative to conduct SA PATW, short lists candidates and trains them to get ready for the competition. The competition gives engineering aspirants an exposure and recognition at a global level and the IET supports and mentors the shortlisted candidates throughout.

This year, the competition witnessed participation from engineers across India and Sri Lanka vying for the top honors. The jury included Gangaraj H S Deputy Chief Engineer BMRC, Chinari Badrinath Prusty, Director Risk and Finance IT, Credit Suisse, G Uday Shankar, CEO of Brand Equity and Vivek Saxena, MD Career Modifiers.

On the side lines of the event, Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director, IET India said “With the curriculum changes being made, Universities and Education bodies are focusing on skill development programmes for students. With the focus largely being on technical skills, soft-skills is taking a back seat. It is important for students to enhance their communication skills in order to apply the theoretical knowledge they have gained into practical solutions. Being a go-to source for engineering institutions, the IET conducts competitions like PATW which helps provide a unique platform for students and young professionals to showcase their presentation skills and in turn contribute to their holistic development. We are really happy about the response we have received for this competition over the years.”