Gandhinagar: The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) conducted a three-day residential Yusuf Hamied Chemistry Camp for more than 80 Grade IX students during March 29-31, 2023, in association with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), India. This Chemistry Camp aimed to infuse fun in learning chemistry and promote appreciation for the subject by providing school students from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to explore practical chemistry and inspire them to pursue chemistry at university-level and beyond.
This was the 41st edition of Yusuf Hamied Chemistry Camp, hosted for the second time at IITGN and organised as part of the RSC Yusuf Hamied Inspirational Science Programme. The participating Grade IX school students were selected from around 30 schools from different districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot, Chhota Udepur, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Patan, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and so on.
During the camp, the school students were acquainted with Chemistry lab safety tools and equipment and were provided hands-on experience to do various lab experiments including Colour Creation, Crystallisation, Forensic Challenge, Clock Reactions, Hydrogel Investigation, Global Coin Battery Experiment, and various short experiments. They also enjoyed various sports activities at the state-of-the-art Sports Complex of IITGN. There were two lectures by IITGN faculty members Prof Ragavan K and Prof Bhaskar Datta and a chemistry experiments demo by Prof Sriram Kanvah. Students of IITGN joined as mentors to the school students during their laboratory experiments. Prof Biswajit Mondal and Prof Anirban Mondal were co-coordinators of the programme along with Prof Sivapriya Kirubakaran, Dean, Student Affairs as the overall coordinator of the camp.
The students were thrilled to be part of this camp, perform various lab experiments, and interact with IITGN faculties. They cherished the camp as well as the IITGN atmosphere and wished to study at an IIT in future. Describing this camp as an exceptional opportunity, Hiral Solanki, a student of Model School, Jasdan, said, “We were too excited to come to Gandhinagar, that too in an IIT, not an ITI, because it was a rare opportunity for us. We got to learn a lot of new things about science and different chemicals during the camp, like if you mix different kinds of chemicals it produces colours. We also understood the crystallisation process. We also enjoyed sports activities a lot. I am eager to share all my experiences with my friends when I go back and try some of these experiments at home, like making paneer. This was my first visit to an IIT and I aspire to study here in future.”
Sahil Thakor, a student of Model School, Radhanpur, said, “We learnt many practical lab experiments here and I am going to share it with my friends in school. I enjoyed making different colours and Hydrogel Investigation. I aspire to pursue science after 10th standard.”
Encouraging students to pursue Chemistry, Prof Rajat Moona, Director, IITGN, said, “Chemistry is all around us, and it can be utilised in many ways to solve our problems. Chemistry has played a major role in developing vaccines for Covid recently. With advancements in the processes of Chemistry and sophisticated instruments, one can contribute to nation-building by working towards solving some of the most pressing challenges of our times such as water, air, and soil pollution and improving our lives, and students shall definitely play a very constructive role in this in the future.”
Prof Amit Prashant, Dean, R&D, IITGN, said, “One of the missions of IITGN since its inception is to connect with neighbouring schools and institutions through various outreach programmes so that more students get inspired to pursue STEM. This camp is aimed at giving students a glimpse of the work that is being done and can be developed further by the amalgamation of Chemistry and technology so that in future they can pursue things that interest them and contribute towards the development of our nation.”
Paul Lewis, Chief Operating Officer, Royal Society of Chemistry, said, “It is inspiring to see our RSC India colleagues working together with members of the Indian education community, delivering this inspiring series of Yusuf Hamied Chemistry Camps. They are an excellent example of how our partnership with Dr Hamied both supports Indian students as well as benefiting the international chemical sciences community.”
Dr Yusuf Hamied, Non-executive Chairman, Cipla Limited, and a leading Indian philanthropist and pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry, said, “We need to encourage and motivate the best students to achieve the knowledge and skills they need to go on to study chemistry at university and, eventually to make a strong contribution to India’s success.”
