With the objective of training the young talented minds towards solving the problems identified in a particular field using technical knowledge, TNAU E-YUVA centre organized the National level “Hackathon in Bioinformatics” on 10th March, 2023.
The event started with a formal inauguration session. Dr. E. Kokila Devi, Professor & Head, Department of Plant Biotechnology, CPMB&B, TNAU, Coimbatore welcomed the gathering. Dr. N. Senthil, Director, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, delivered the opening remarks. He explained the gaining importance of Internet of things and sequencing tools in agriculture/clinical study. He emphasized integration of metabolomics and genomics with bioinformatics.
Dr. R. Tamizh Vendhan, Registrar, TNAU in his inaugural address mentioned about skill development programme for igniting the young minds to take up entrepreneurship and come out with novel products that are useful to the farming community. Dr. L. Arul, Professor and E-YUVA Chief Coordinator, proposed the vote of thanks.
Following the inaugural session, there were three invited talks by bioinformatics professionals and an entrepreneur. The resource persons were Ms. U. Sathvika, Manager (Bioinformatics), Dept. of Applied Informatics, Sandor Specialty Diagnostics, Hyderabad, Ms. S. Shanmugapriya, Team Lead, Molecular Connections, Bengaluru and Mr. D. Surendran, Sri Kanda Shrishti Skill Fasteners Pvt. Ltd., Chennai. The invited talks were followed by the competition.
The competition had two levels. 58 student teams from Tamil Nadu and other states namely Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Delhi submitted their entries for the competition. Preliminary screening was completed earlier and fifteen teams were invited for the final round which was held on 10th March 2023. The top three ideas were awarded cash prizes.
In the valedictory session, Dr. N. Venkatesa Palanichamy, Dean (Agri.), TNAU, Coimbatore offered the valedictory address and distributed the cash prizes to the winning teams.