PDA College of Engineering in Kalaburagi will organise Nirman-2026, a two-day techno-cultural fest, on Friday and Saturday on the college campus, Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society (HKES) president and MLC Shashil G. Namoshi said on Wednesday.

Addressing presspersons at the college, Mr. Namoshi said that the festival will provide a platform for students to showcase their technical, cultural and creative talents through a series of competitions and interactive events.

“The objective of Nirman-2026 is to encourage innovation, creativity and technical excellence among students and prepare them to meet industry requirements,” he said.

The fest will be inaugurated at 10 a.m. on Friday at the PDA Auditorium by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shaloo.

The function will be presided over by Mr. Namoshi.

Senior Principal Engineer and Senior Director at Infineon Technologies Prakash Balasubramanian will participate as the guest of honour.

Mr. Namoshi said that the event will feature programmes such as “Techno Vision-2026”, a 12-hour code hackathon, “Code Excellerate”, “Speak Tacular”, “Slide ’n’ Survive” and several other technical and cultural competitions.

A grand cultural programme has also been scheduled for the evening on Friday.

“A marathon will also be organised from Vikas Soudha to PDA College of Engineering to create enthusiasm among students and staff participating in the festival,” he said.

Highlighting recent initiatives taken by the Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society to strengthen education and innovation infrastructure, Mr. Namoshi said that the institution has initiated the PDA Research and Innovation Foundation and the PDA Research and Tech Park.

“We are going to establish a Research and Innovation Foundation under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 with the objective of strengthening research, innovation and entrepreneurship activities in the region. The foundation will help the institution secure CSR funding, government grants and international educational support funds. It will also improve governance and transparency while encouraging skill development and start-up culture among students,” he said.

Mr. Namoshi said that the HKES has also initiated the PDA Research and Tech Park which is the first such facility among educational institutions in the Kalyana Karnataka region.

“Spread over nearly 35,000 sq ft, the proposed tech park will include seminar halls, conference halls, board rooms, incubation spaces, office rooms and workspaces for start-ups. The tech park is being developed as an innovation ecosystem to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry-ready innovation. It will focus on alumni-led mentorship, advanced research, AI laboratories and entrepreneurship development,” he said.

PDA College of Engineering principal S.R. Patil, vice-principals S.R. Hotti and Bharati Harsoor, Nirman-2026 convener Jayprakash A.K., PDA College Governing Council members Anil Pattan and Sharanabasappa R. Harwal, coordinators of the event and faculty members of the college were present.