Wissenaire, the annual techno-management festival of IIT Bhubaneswar, started on March 10.

The chief guest, Dr. Omkar Rai, executive chairman of start-up Odisha, along with the director of IIT, Bhubaneswar, Prof. Shreepad Karmalkar, Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. P.V. Stayam, President of the student gymkhana, Dr. Srinivas Bhaskar Karanki, and Chairperson of Wissenaire’23, Dr. Srikant Gollepudi graced the inaugural evening with his presence. The event commenced with the launch of the theme video for the festival. The theme of this edition is Aeternum Reis: Redefining automobile and transportation technology in the light of accrescent exigencies. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) acted as the title sponsor for the 3 day long fest

Dr Rai termed the festival a thoughtful event by IIT Bhubaneswar and appreciated the makers of

the theme video. He highlighted the fact that only three percent of the start-ups belong to the sector of automobiles, and that there is a need to increase these numbers. He suggested that events like these help nurture the arena of start-ups and encourage entrepreneurship.  Closing his speech, he insisted the students take advantage of the policies and incentives from the government of Odisha.

The other dignitaries extended their wishes for the fest and marked their support for the journey of this edition. The Chief Coordinator of Wissenaire’23, Mr Shishir Reddy, expressed his gratitude through his vote of thanks.

The fest is an conglomerate of technical and cultural events like Robo Wars, Colloquia, Math olympiad etc.