IARD Final Presentations

In the concluding phase of the IARD 2008 - 2009, the final project presentations by the twenty-one students from Indian universities who participated in the program were made at Hotel Fortune Manohar on the 21 and 22 of February 2009.

The program began on the 21 February with a preliminary round where all the students were allowed 15 minutes to make their presentations and 15 minutes to answer questions posed by the evaluating faculty members.

The students were divided into three groups and each group was evaluated by a panel of expert panelists from Cornell University and the participating Indian universities.

Based on the preliminary presentations, the panelists short listed a minimum of two and a maximum of three students with the best presentations.  The criteria for selection were based on the depth of research, content of the presentation, conclusion and recommendations, communication and presentation skills, and also their delivery during the question and answer session.

At the end of the first day, eight students were chosen who qualified for the second round of presentations for the final day program.

The final program was held on the 22 February 2009, where the selected eight finalists made their final presentations to a panel of five judges. The evaluation criteria remained the same. The panelists were Terry Tucker, Hemalatha, Prabir Mishra, Akshat Medakker, and Ashok Jha.

The final program concluded with a selection of two participants --- Tanay Joshi of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology who was named winner and Revathi Shanmugam of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University who was declared runner up for the best project presentations.