IIT-BHU Students to Use Drones to Tell Institute’s 109-Year Story

VARANASI: Students at IIT-BHU are preparing to use drones, startup exhibits and placement milestones to tell the institute’s 109-year story during its foundation-day programme, with alumni also set to be recognised.

The approach shifts an anniversary from speeches into a visual account of how the institution’s teaching and engineering culture have changed. A well-designed exhibition can connect archival photographs and early laboratories with current research, entrepreneurship and student life.

Drones offer spectacle, but their use on a dense campus requires a clear safety plan. Flight zones, height, operator qualification, weather limits and emergency landing space must be approved. The event should not interfere with the university hospital, nearby traffic or restricted airspace.

Tell the whole story

Placement figures and startups are important, but they are only part of an institute’s contribution. The display should also include public-interest research, teaching, technicians, libraries and graduates who built careers outside headline-making companies.

An archive is strongest when it records debate and difficulty as well as success. Students can show how curricula, access and campus life evolved over 109 years without turning history into a list of victories.

Alumni and current students

Honouring former students can create mentoring and research links if the interaction goes beyond a photograph. Small sessions organised by field can let students ask practical questions about careers, failure and changing technology.

Startup exhibits should explain the problem being solved, evidence behind the product and stage of development. Avoiding inflated claims will make the showcase more useful to potential collaborators.

Accessibility and preservation

The drone presentation should have a ground-level visual alternative for people unable to view an outdoor flight. Exhibitions need clear routes, captions and seating. Livestreaming can include alumni and families unable to reach Varanasi.

After the celebration, the institute should preserve the collected photographs, interviews and project notes in a searchable digital archive. That would give the anniversary work value for researchers and future students.

The 109-year mark is an opportunity to show continuity without nostalgia. IIT-BHU’s past matters because it provides context for present choices: what the institute builds, whom it serves and how responsibly it uses emerging technology. If the students’ drone-led narrative keeps that wider frame, the foundation day can be both visually memorable and intellectually honest.

A short post-event report should record participation, costs and practical lessons. That routine transparency will help the institution improve the next edition and show whether the programme created value beyond its opening ceremony.