DRONESMITH 2026 | Hands-on Drone Bootcamp
From learning to building, from flying to innovating!
The Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (MAIT), Delhi, successfully organized the five-day “DroneSmith 2026 – Hands-on Drone Bootcamp” from 14th to 18th September 2026, in association with the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Noida.The inaugural ceremony commenced with Saraswati Vandana, followed by Lamp Lighting by distinguished guests Dr. Subodh Jindal, Advisor, MATES; Shri Rajnish Gupta, Joint General Secretary, MATES; Prof. Dr. Vikram Bali, Director, MAIT; Prof. S. S. Deswal, Additional Director, MAIT; Prof. Dr. Sachin Gupta, Dean (R&I), MAIT; Prof. Dr. Bhoomi Gupta, HOD, Department of Computer Science & Engineering,Sh. J. R. Mani Tripathi, Chief Financial Officer, MATES; along with the resource persons associated with the bootcamp.The Department extended a warm welcome to the distinguished resource persons from C-DAC, Noida, namely Dr. Kalpana Johri, Principal & Scientist-F; Mr. Dipesh Verma, Senior Design Engineer; Ms. Kiran Walia, Project Engineer; and Ms. Isha Gupta, Project Engineer.
Special appreciation is extended to Dr. Ashish Khanna, Associate Professor, Department of CSE, for his initiative and efforts in bringing these distinguished resource persons and facilitating this valuable technical collaboration with C-DAC, Noida.
The five-day bootcamp was designed to provide students with comprehensive exposure to the rapidly evolving field of Drone Technology through a combination of expert-led sessions, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. The programme covered key areas including drone assembly and configuration, drone components and flight mechanisms, programming and control, sensors and perception, navigation, flight control, and intelligent drone applications.A total of 98 students registered for the bootcamp, of whom 68 students successfully completed the five-day programme, demonstrating their commitment to experiential and technology-driven learning.
A notable highlight of the concluding day was the visit of Shri Prashant Kumar Gupta, Deputy General Manager, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Airports Authority of India (AAI), Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), IGI Airport. During his visit, Shri Gupta interacted with the resource persons and student participants and experienced the practical drone demonstrations conducted as part of the bootcamp. His participation provided students with valuable exposure to the relevance and potential applications of drone technology in the aviation and air-traffic management ecosystem.
The bootcamp aimed not merely to teach students how to fly a drone, but to help them understand how drones work, how they can be programmed, how they perceive their surroundings, and how intelligent applications can be built around them. The combination of expert guidance, hands-on experimentation, practical flight sessions, and real-world perspectives made the bootcamp an enriching learning experience for the participating students.
A sincere appreciation is extended to all the faculty coordinators — Dr. Ashish Khanna, Dr. Farzil Kidwai, Dr. Anupam Kumar, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, Ms. Sakshi Jha, and Ms. Shallu Juneja — and the enthusiastic student participants whose dedicated efforts, active participation, and collaborative spirit made DroneSmith 2026 a meaningful, engaging, and successful learning experience.
The Department of Computer Science & Engineering, MAIT, expresses its sincere gratitude to NIELIT, MeitY, and C-DAC, Noida, for their valuable contribution towards making DroneSmith 2026 a successful and enriching technical learning initiative.
