BITS Pilani, often heralded as the top-ranked private engineering college in India, has been the face of innovative research and cutting–edge startups since its inception in 1964. With its flexible timetable and attendance policies, BITS offers its students time to explore pursuits outside of academics, fostering an environment that supports multiple student-led technical teams (tech teams). 

Over the decades, the campus has seen the rise and fall of several such tech teams. ‘Dreams of Fire’ is a 20-minute video published by the Creative Media Lab in 2012, showcasing the tech teams active on campus at the time. Watching it today, you notice many names that have since disappeared, revealing an uncomfortable truth: while BITS prides itself as one of the best engineering colleges in the country, many tech teams that embody its spirit of innovation often fade away without a trace. 

One such tech team was Team AcYut. Focused on building humanoid robots, the team participated in competitions worldwide and constructed a robot over a meter tall—one of fewer than 20 of its kind in the world at the time. Two main factors contributed to its eventual demise. First, and most evident, the dire lack of funding. Like many tech teams today, the club’s expenses exceeded its budget, leaving it unable to sustain its research-oriented projects. Secondly, many of the club’s members shifted their focus, time, and energy into building their startup, GreyOrange, which would go on to become a global leader in warehouse automation. This left the club without experienced leadership to guide it in the right direction amidst budget restraints. 

Sally Robotics was a club focused on building autonomous self-driving cars that could navigate Indian terrains. Members had international publications in associated AI fields and won first place in competitions hosted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Team Sally was split into four divisions: computer vision, SLAM, navigation, and mechanical design. Computer vision processed visual data, SLAM built real-time maps, navigation found efficient routes, and mechanical design enabled the vehicle to act—handling steering, speed, and control — based on this input. Despite winning upwards of ₹50,000 in competitions, the club became inactive during COVID-19, although the team attempted to conduct research remotely. First-year students who joined in 2022, the last year that saw recruitments, received little exposure and experience in the domain as club members were inactive.

Within the ecosystem of tech teams on campus, the Inspired Karters Electric (IKE) focuses on developing Formula Student cars. While the club has successfully organised events during student-run fests and won awards in Formula Student Electric Vehicles Concept Challenges, the club faces issues regarding funding and knowledge transfer. Limited access to funds has led to a lack of concrete results from the club, which disincentivises new sponsors from investing further. High competition registration fees, often reaching up to 1 lakh, receive no backing from the administration, with the majority of the money coming from students’ own pockets. IKE also share the boiler room with IKRG, resulting in inadequate workspace and constrained resources. In comparison, Manipal Institute of Technology supports its tech teams by giving almost 10 lakhs annually. Additionally, the COVID-19 era disrupted continuity and led to a loss of knowledge. Subsequently, the following batches had to relearn much of the groundwork from scratch.

The IEEE chapter of BITS Pilani has managed to stay active through times when several other tech clubs have rescinded. From building micromouse maze solvers and ideating an underwater robot, to constructing an 8-bit breadboard computer and upgrading it into a 16-bit FPGA model, their initiatives cover both electronics and AI/ML. The club also organised technical workshops and events such as the DD Challenge during APOGEE. Konaark Berwal, the Chairperson of IEEE BITS Pilani, commented that the club does not receive Students’ Union funding and relies largely on IEEE grants and competition winnings. He also mentioned that while student interest has remained consistently high, a lack of support and knowledge from past batches has hindered club proceedings. He added that this was something that has improved in the past three years. What has kept the club going, despite all these challenges, he said, is consistent mentorship across batches and a healthy recruitment process that prioritises learning over elimination.

CRISS Robotics has positioned itself on the national and international map by competing in events like the European Rover Challenge, currently ranking third globally, while also planning to build a full-scale Martian rover this year. Despite winning competitions such as Gujarat RoboFest and securing sponsorships worth lakhs, the team receives no institutional funding and operates out of an old workshop with unsafe conditions, with frequent electrical failures. According to Saniddh, CRISS’s APOGEE Coordinator, there is a significant amount of interest in the technical divisions, but management and logistics verticals see fewer volunteers. CRISS’s drive to represent BITS on global platforms is commendable, but the lack of adequate workspace and administrative support reflects a wider issue: even some of the institute’s most ambitious teams are often left to fend for themselves.

A general concern raised by senior students and alumni is that while many current batches are not short on talent, they often lack sustained initiative. Today, students enrol in hackathons, complete online certificates, or add coding courses to their CVs. Far fewer are willing to commit to long-term, hands-on work within campus labs or tech teams. The gap between consuming content and building something has slowly widened.

An alumnus who graduated in the 90s recalled the presence of a Practical Lab in FD-II, where students were allowed to work directly under industrial companies in their field of expertise. This space played a central role in sparking his interest in engineering and problem-solving, and was something that could replace a PS. Such spaces no longer exist in any active or truly accessible form today, and many believe that this lack of hands-on infrastructure is one of the reasons why the culture has weakened.

Ironically, BITS Pilani still has several formal centres entirely dedicated to research and innovation. The Technology Enabling Centre (TEC), funded by the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), remains one of the most underutilised resources on campus. Located in the heart of the RKIC, the centre helps students explore patents, build prototypes and access research equipment. A BITS Goa graduate working there mentioned that while the centre is open to undergraduates, most students are unaware of its existence. According to her, the current mindset may also be a challenge, as many students today seem to be in search of one big breakthrough idea or startup plan, rather than focusing on building deep technical competence over time.

The institute is known for producing successful entrepreneurs and startups like Swiggy, BigBasket and many more. These startup economies and initiatives have attracted present batches. While it is not necessarily negative, it has altered what students value. Long-term technical work or hardware-heavy research builds receive less attention compared to scalable, high-visibility startup ideas. The shift from building technology to building companies is subtle, but it has significantly influenced the choices made by many students.

Apart from TEC, the campus houses the Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (CRIS) and the Centre for Desert Development Technologies, both of which run ongoing research projects throughout the year. CRIS works on robotic prototypes and intelligent systems, while the Desert Development Centre focuses on sustainability and resource management in arid regions. However, involvement from undergraduate students is minimal. Most activities are led by master’s or doctoral researchers, and the information rarely reaches the wider student body. Even when opportunities are available, there is limited communication and outreach, and students do not actively seek these centres out either.

Ultimately, the decline of tech culture at BITS Pilani is more a consequence of declining awareness, ownership and patience rather than a lack of infrastructure. The same campus that once produced teams like AcYut and Sally still contains the physical tools and alumni support needed to create groundbreaking projects. What seems to be missing is the willingness to sustain a team, guide juniors, or use existing centres to their fullest potential. Without that, student-led tech initiatives will continue to fade away quietly.

Nevertheless, it is not an irreversible decline. The resources still exist. Alumni have expressed a willingness to mentor and even fund student-led initiatives if a genuine interest is shown by undergraduates. Seniors active in labs or research areas have also mentioned that they are open to guiding newer students—provided that those students show interest and consistency.

In the past, BITS Pilani’s technical culture was built on students staying back in the lab after classes — not for credits, but because they desired to build something meaningful. It was never driven by competitions or LinkedIn posts, but by genuine curiosity. For the institute to regain that image, students may need to consciously devote time to experiment and collaborate again, rather than simply optimising for visibility. If that mindset returns, even in small pockets, there is a possibility that Pilani will once again produce tech teams and innovations that truly match its reputation as one of the country’s leading engineering institutions.