Department of Chemistry, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur in association with IGNOU Regional Centre, Nagpur organized three days “Salter’s Chemistry Camp”, as a part of Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the institute, during 3rd – 5th January 2020. The event was sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, Indian Chapter, Bangalore to create awareness and a longterm interest in chemical sciences among the student community.
Sixty-eight students of 9th standard from Zilla Parishad and Nagpur Municipal Corporation schools and parts of Hemalkasa, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Bhandara, Gardiya, Amravati, Washim and Warora districts participated in this programme. The camp was inaugurated by Prof. P. M. Padole, Director, VNIT Nagpur and Prof. Kamal Singh, Ex-Vice Chancellor, SGB Amravati University.
The Salters’ Chemistry Camps India, part of the “Inspirational Chemistry Programme” project in India, has been supported by Dr. Yusuf Hamied (Non-executive Chairman- Cipla Limited) a leading Indian philanthropist and pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Hamied has committed INR 8 crores for this five-year programme which includes training of school science teachers as well.
This is the second time such a residential camp on chemical science has been organised by the Department of Chemistry, VNIT in the city for the school students. The whole event became a very good learning experience for the participants. Six practical experiments viz. Colour Creation, Crystallisation, Forensic Challenge, Clock Reactions, Hydrogel Investigation and Slime formation were demonstrated in an interesting way.
Other than these, Dr. Rajiv Mohta, renowned Paediatrician of Nagpur delivered motivational talk while Prof. N.S. Gajbhiye, former Professor, IIT-Kanpur spoke on “Magic of Crystals”. Science quiz, Circus of short experiment and Sports activity were also part of the programme. During the Campus tour session students visited the VNIT library and enjoyed the vibrant life of VNIT.
During these days students were motivated towards learning chemical science and enjoyed a lot as they expressed their positive feelings and pleasant experience in their feedback.
Dr Suresh S. Umare, Professor and Dr. Chayan Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry were the coordinators of the programme. Dr. P. Sivaswaroop, Regional Director, IGNOU Regional Centre, Nagpur was the coordinator on behalf of IGNOU Regional Centre, Nagpur. Sri S. Prabhuraman, Principal Saraswati Vidyalaya, Nagpur extended strong support and assistance in the successful organisation of the event.
