TEAM BHP IN ROBOTICS COMPETITION ACROSS COUNTRY
Team BHP is a team that consists of engineers from Padre Conceicao College of Engineering who have taken their passion for robotics seriously and applied it to building up an organization that is dedicated to the same. The main men behind Team BHP are Mr. Jeff Fernandes, Mr. Linford Correia, Mr. Enrico Cotta, Mr. Macberth Fernandes, Mr. Clinton Furtado, Mr. Jeremy D’Silva and Mr. Meljoe Fernandes. They are all students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering but the entire team consists of students from across the departments, making it all – inclusive
The boys came together for an inter – collegiate competition, Techyon 2016. They decided to form a team to take part in the Robowars competition. And the rest is history! What started of as a team of just 7 members has now expanded to close to 30 members! The students work after college hours and on holidays to design bots. In order to participate in competitions, they’ve also had to sacrifice Christmas and New Year with their families. But to them, it’s been worth the while!
So what makes Team BHP so special? For starters, they are a team comprised exclusively of students of Padre Conceicao College of Engineering. When asked as to why they decided to limit their reach to just PCCE members, they said that they wish to build up an ecosystem of robotics that integrates technical knowledge and creativity and what better way than within your own college premises?
Team BHP has taken part in robotics competitions across the country and have added many feathers in their cap.
They were the winners of Techyon 2017 and 2018 organized by PCCE. They also won Quark at BITS in 2018 and they were the runners up here in 2019. They won Citronix 2019, an event organized by CDGI at Indore. They also represented Goa in Pune and Rajasthan, reaching the semi – finals at both the events.
Team BHP has also conducted workshops for students as well. Recently they conducted a drum bot and a drone workshop at PCCE. They wish to start conducting brainstorming sessions and also conduct robotics workshops in village schools so that young minds across the state of Goa know what robotics is. In their own words, all these actions will help to make their dream come true – to put Goa on the ‘national map of robotics’.
When asked what they have learned in their years with team BHP, I was met with some fascinating answers! They said that they learned about team spirit, collective leadership, stress and time management as well. They were also exposed to the latest trends in technology and were encouraged to learn more about them, thus expanding their horizons!
Robotics is still a field that is garnering credibility in Goa. And Team BHP aims to change this up. This team of energetic students have learned how to balance their studies and their passion and have truly developed into all round dynamic engineers! They are of the opinion that this is the way they can best apply their engineering knowledge and use it for a greater purpose. For them, every event is a learning opportunity and it’s not so much about winning every single time as it is about getting better and better each day!
Team BHP is now a registered Society and is associated with CIBA. Their aim is to encourage students to undertake final year as well as mini projects under their banner. They also wish to provide internships to students and are in the process of acquisition of funds for projects and placement opportunities for students as well.