Take cue from nature for country's development: Isro chief

Sixth graduation day held at SJCE; students told to learn forever

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman A S Kiran Kumar on Saturday called for incorporating techniques in the development of the country without disturbing natural resources and environment.

Addressing the gathering during sixth graduation day at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) here, Kumar elaborated on learning from nature, check over-exploitation of natural resources, sustainable growth, preserving heritage and making use of technology for societal benefits.

He emphasised that most of the innovative designs are inspired by nature ensuring better performance and lower consumption of energy. For instance, the A380 aircraft is modelled on the wing tips of steoppe eagles to maximise the lift with a minimal wingspan. So also the ship manufacturers who have been relying on the characteristics of shark skin to maintain durability.

On over-exploitation of natural resources, Kumar blamed the development of industrial society that has created environment-related problems. According to studies, greenhouse gas emissions led to global warming, melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, air pollution, ocean acidification, disruption of ecology, contamination of groundwater, depletion of soil among other effects that originated from innovations backed by technology without thinking about its pros and cons.

The sustainable growth shall be a possibility only when man lives in sync with nature like our ancestral civilisations.

Preserving heritage is one’s duty, as glorious heritage ups the country’s pride. When it comes to either discarding or restructuring these cultural assets, there should be accurate and critical analyses of the same.Saying that powerful technologies offer solutions to address challenges, Kumar, however, said ‘exploiting technology to tackle social issues and empower disadvantaged groups still remained significantly underexplored’.

For this, Kumar asserted that the country needed a skilled and knowledgable generation that could comprehend the changing scenario and address issues of sustainable development. He advised students to make learning a lifelong process, as it doesn’t end after reaching a milestone in academic life.

Degrees awarded

In all, 938 BE students, 216 MTech students, 53 MCA students and 127 MBA students were awarded degrees.