Sat May 31 12:02:59 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary of the text and a news article rewrite:

**Summary:**

IIT Madras is hosting a two-day “Demo Day” on June 9-10 for JEE qualified candidates to explore the campus, interact with faculty and students, and help them choose their course of study. An online event will be held on June 3 for those who cannot travel. IIT Madras is also honoring pre-undergraduate teachers with the ‘First Principles’ Teachers’ Award (FPTA) for their impact on students’ understanding of fundamental concepts. Two teachers, Sabitha G.J. (mathematics) and Anuroop Naik (chemistry), were recognized for their innovative and engaging teaching methods. The initiative aims to encourage students to pursue core engineering disciplines instead of exclusively opting for computer science.

**News Article:**

**IIT Madras Hosts ‘Demo Day’ to Attract Top Engineering Talent, Honors Inspiring Teachers**

**Chennai, May 31, 2025** – The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras is pulling out all the stops to attract the best and brightest engineering minds, hosting a two-day “Demo Day” on June 9th and 10th. The event is designed for students who have cleared the Joint Engineering Examinations (JEE) and aims to provide them with an immersive experience of campus life, academic opportunities, and faculty interaction. For those unable to attend in person, an online event will be held on June 3rd. Offline events are being held at six cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

The Demo Day offers prospective students a chance to engage with current students, alumni, and professors, tour laboratories and the Centre for Innovation, and even attend sample classes. IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti emphasized the goal is to encourage students to consider core engineering fields, noting a trend where top-ranked students often gravitate solely towards computer science and engineering.

“We conduct several efforts like Shaastra, Saarang, Open House, and CFI Day. We want students to opt for core engineering over CSE,” he said.

In a parallel initiative, IIT Madras is also recognizing the crucial role of pre-undergraduate educators through the ‘First Principles’ Teachers’ Award (FPTA). The award honors teachers who instilled a deep understanding of fundamental concepts in physics, chemistry, and mathematics within the IIT-JEE syllabus.

This year’s recipients include Sabitha G.J., a mathematics teacher from Ida Scudder ICSE School in Vellore, and Anuroop Naik, a chemistry teacher from Bengaluru. Ms. Sabitha was lauded for her personalized approach, while Mr. Naik used creative methods, including analogies to everyday life, to help students grasp complex chemical concepts.

“We wanted to recognise such teachers,” said Institute director V. Kamakoti. “We asked the students who was their inspiration and we asked the first year students to nominate their teachers. The second group of students consistently come up with unexpected solutions. This was the reason we decided to honour them,” he said.

The event underscores IIT Madras’ commitment to fostering a well-rounded engineering education and nurturing the next generation of innovators.

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