CHENNAI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will inaugurate Shaastra 2026, the annual technical festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), on January 2, with the five-day event set to run till January 6 on the campus.
Addressing reporters at IIT-M on Friday, Director V Kamakoti said the Minister would also unveil the IIT Madras Global Foundation, a new international outreach platform aimed at technology transfer, startup collaboration and investments.
In the first phase, the foundation will establish 2 centres in the US, and one each in Germany, Dubai and Malaysia, in addition to the one at Zanzibar. “Now in its 27th edition, Shaastra is among Asia’s largest technical festivals and is entirely student-managed. Over 80,000 visitors are expected this year, with 80 events, 130 innovation stalls, competitions, workshops, conferences and shows. ISO 9001:2015-certified, the festival is organised by more than 750 students,” he explained.
This year’s theme, ‘Artifacts of Arcade’, reimagines Shaastra as a game-like ecosystem blending hands-on learning with immersive engagement. New and first-time events include Robo GP, a nitro-fuelled robotic racing challenge; BioBattle, focused on biomimicry-led healthcare innovation; NeuroHack, IIT-M's first brain–computer interface hackathon using real EEG data; E-Contest, centred on esoteric programming languages; Quantified Dilemma, combining game theory and psychology; and an Educators’ Conclave under the VidhyaVahak programme.
Shaastra 2026 will feature major academic platforms such as ICON26, an international conference on smart manufacturing, and a Digital Governance Summit focusing on citizen-centric digital solutions. Spotlight lectures will be delivered by Jaishankar, Turing Award laureate Jeffrey Ullman, former NSF director Subra Suresh, neuroscientist Vidita Vaidya, and other eminent figures.
The festival will also host a Tech-Entertainment Night with electronic duo Lost Stories and a Comedy Night by Pranav Sharma. Reinforcing its social focus, Shaastra’s Hear4You campaign on hearing health will culminate in a 5K Run on December 28.