With Oasis’25 right around the corner, the Oasis English Press reached out to Malhar Patwardhan, the Oasis Coordinator of the Mechanical Engineering Association (MEA), to learn more about the contributions MEA had planned for the fest.

Malhar said that MEA was the oldest association on campus. They worked directly under the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. He further explained that they stood as the connection between the professors and students by primarily hosting events that involved the professors, PhD students and undergraduates to encourage bonding.

He mentioned that due to the lack of a workforce, MEA hadn’t participated in Oasis before. Since this was their first time participating in Oasis, Malhar said that they wanted to ‘play it safe’ by conducting an event they had already executed in APOGEE: the Egg Drop. The event would have participants create an enclosure for an egg, and the team whose contraption could sustain the highest drop without breaking the egg would win. Malhar revealed that they would also be introducing a new event called Zoom-A-Kart, where contestants would make a small cart from materials provided to them, such as straws, ice cream sticks and glue. He added that their carts would have to be powered by a balloon. The cart which went the farthest would win. Both of these events would feature a daily leaderboard, and the players at the top by the end of the day would win. 

Malhar shared that the association had begun brainstorming for their events immediately after BOSM. After a lot of thought, they had decided to present Zoom-A-Kart and Egg Drop to the StuCCA, both of which had been approved. He noted that MEA had already given an inventory list to the Department of Art, Design and Publicity (ADP) of materials necessary for participants for Zoom-A-Kart. 

With regard to setbacks, he told the OEP that he had participated in InterBITS, and all the paperwork, pitching and major formalities took place while he was off-campus, competing in Hyderabad. He said that it had been a struggle to handle it remotely and thanked his fellow members who had covered up for him well.

Malhar told us that being the Oasis Coordinator was an educational experience for him. He said that figuring out the logistics of events, pitching them, and working around the tight schedule had all taught him a lot. On a parting note, he advised first years to participate in Oasis by joining a club, department or association if they hadn’t already joined one, since he felt that helping organise the fest truly enhances one’s experience.