IIT Bhubaneswar conducted the 9th edition of the popular techno-management fest "Wissenaire'19", based on the theme “Augmented Reality: The Perceptual Enhancement of Reality for the Genesis of Anthropocentric Technology” during February 1-3, 2019 in their campus.  Wissenaire’19 was inaugurated on the evening of February 01, 2019 by Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, ISRO, and Prof. R. V. Raja Kumar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar. In his lecture on the topic of “Augmented Reality and Human Space Exploration-Emerging Trends”, Chief Guest Dr. K Radhakrishnan emphasized the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) in solving some of the crucial challenges associated with manned space missions. Prof. R. V. Raja Kumar, Director, lauded the technical achievements of the students of IIT Bhubaneswar and talked about the initiatives of adopted to encourage research in the emerging domain of AR.  Dr. Meenu Ramadas, Chairperson Wissenaire 2019 introduced the various competitions, workshops and events organized as a part of the techno-management fest. M. Lasya Chowdary of Narayana E-techno School, Guntur, who won Qwissenaire, the national level competitive exam conducted for high school students as a part of the fest, was felicitated in this occasion.

As a part of the fest, several competitions in the techno-management domain were conducted in the IIT campus, which was attended by more than 300 students from different colleges across the country. These included Robo Wars, Box Maze, Maze Solver, Hack-AR challenge and Codec among others. Workshops on topics such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, Innovation and Communication, Automobile and IC Engines, Internet of Things, Ethical Hacking, and Bridge Design were organized as a part of Wissenaire’19. Exhibits of drone demo, working of 3-D printer and 3-D pen, INDRO, the autonomous robot, and 3D Interactive VR were in display during the fest. Tek Nite organized by Wissenaire’19 in association with the Design and Innovation Centre (DIC) at IIT Bhubaneswar, had illuminating and inspiring invited talks by Ms. Suhasini Paul, famous Toy Designer, Mr. Paul Sandip, Designer and founder of Paul Studio, Mr. Siddhartha Das, Designer and founder of Siddhartha Das Studio, and Mr. Luis Diaz, Musician and Founder of Child’s Play Foundation. The concluding day of Wissenaire’19 was marked by a superb performance by the popular stand-up comedian and musician, Mr. Kenny Sebastian who amazed the gathering with his hilarious anecdotes and jokes.