Name of the project: Parking shed in BVB campus

Date: 25/3/2011- 30 /6/2011

Team Leader: Sonika B. Mohite

Team Members: Jugal V. Hiran, Sumathi Kulkarn, Anil G. Kakhand, Pragati Shanbagh, Rajlaxm, Chinmayee L. M., Rajveer Rane, Akshay Benni

College: BVBCET

Place of project implementation: BVB college campus
  


The first thing Sonika noticed when she joined the College was that there was no proper protection for the vehicles from rain and sunshine in the campus. This caused the petrol to evaporate and damage the vehicles.  Sonika thought she and her team  had to take the initiative and so decided to build a prototype for the protection of the bikes.

The biggest problem the team faced was gathering the funds.  Basically, the team did fundraising on the college premises. People turned out in huge numbers, including professors. They raised enough money to build a prototype. The college authorities were supportive enough to lend them a few workers to build the structure. The Mechanical Department and Mr. Sanjeev helped the team a lot in understanding the type of raw materials that would be durable and useful. 


Initially the college was not ready to give the team permission for the project. The team decided that they would do it themselves if the school didn't help. Eventually, the college gave in to their demands. The funds the team required were huge, but everyone lended openheartedly because BVB-ians wanted a parking shed. Teachers helped the team with the technical details of the shed.

Sonika didn’t expect people to be so co-operative. She was amazed to see how much people wanted to do good things, if only given an opportunity. The pleasure one gets when they do something for someone else can't be matched. "Thanks to LEAD," said Sonika, "I know I am gonna have more of that good feeling coming my way."

Foremost, Sonika learned how to manage people in a group. She learnt how to let everybody shine and use their specific talents.  She realised that you have  to know your capability and resources at hand before taking up any work. The most important lesson, however, was never to give up.

Sonika said that there were some things she could improve on. "I think we could have planned out better and then we wouldn't have the clash of the project with exam dates." Yet, Sonika feels the project was a great accomplishment. She said, "my friends thanked me as their bikes now had a shelter and we did see a bit of people coming early so they could park their vehicles in the shade. That made me feel real proud,and it got me thinking if only I could provide that shed better to the whole college." She plans to extend the project. "I would love to take up the same project again," she said, "and cover the whole BVB campus. I am also open to new projects. All I look forward to, in this endeavour, is to do something for others and  better myself as a person."