Research poster presentation and release of e- brochure “Research Dimensions” at UIFT & VD

Chandigarh, May 28, 2022: UIFT& VD today hosted a poster presentation of its 4th semester M.Sc. students on the department's premises. This was the result of each student's research, which began in their first semester of the Masters programme. They try to explore their areas of interest as well as some societal issues, problems for which they try to provide recommendations or solutions, during the first semester. They work on the same topic for the following semesters, including reviews, research methods, a pilot run, and a final survey or experimentation or product development before presenting in the fourth semester. According to Dr. Anu H. Gupta, Chairperson UIFT & VD, research dissertations are a way of developing an analytical aptitude and critical way of thinking in students, towards the evolving measures of fashion, society, and environment, and their correlation with each other. She mentioned that UIFT is evolving every year since its inception in 2007. The first batch of Masters programme passed out in 2012. It’s been 10 years and many of the masters’ students are working in prestigious institutes. The credit goes to the kind of training provided at UIFT and the detailed research work that they are involved in complete two years.

A total of 20 students exhibited their research work in the form of products and posters, which were displayed and each work was presented by the respective student in front of the external jury: Prof. Latika Sharma from the Department of Education and Dr Jayanti Dutta, Deputy Director HRDC, Panjab University, Chandigarh.   The research dimensions were explored around the following topics; need for bralette for posture correction, dyeing on cotton fabric with vegetables and fruits, accessories inspired by Rogan art, the feasibility of adopting sustainable fashion. The dissertations also dwelled upon the significant areas of social media and fashion, applications altering the functioning of fashion retails, fusion wear, OTT platforms inspiring different fashion sense, and the recent pandemic’s most recognisable aspect- the mask, its evolution from a necessity to a fashion statement. Some students seemed to be in the shoes of being young entrepreneurs with their creative ideas of product development, the hand-painted home décor products seemed to highlight the idea of the search of the unique rather than the commercialised and common. Champa developed products by dyeing cotton fabric using natural dyes procured from vegetables and fruits. Sukhpreet explored designs and motifs of Durries of Punjab and studied the traditions which were associated with weaving and spinning. Dikshita studied the evolution of Masks. Stuti worked on costume analysis of a very famous series- Game of Thrones. Her study culminated in the form of a ready reckoner for young fashion designers who want to work as costume designers in movies or theatre. Another interesting study was carried out by Ms. Nitika where she explored relationship between youngsters and their smart phones with respect to searching fashion trends.

The idea of exhibiting the research was appreciated by the jury, where the corridor of the department came alive with the research energy and aesthetics of products and work done by the students. The need of adopting multicultural fashion was also highlighted. The jury expressed their immense pleasure of being to witness such a variety of topics executed by students. The awards were announced to incorporate a motivation into students and as an acknowledgment of their hard work. The work of MSc 2nd semester students was also appreciated especially the visual merchandising project on ‘Go Green’ and design of printed T-shirts, which were printed by one of the class's aspiring entrepreneurs.

During the event, E-brochures titled "Research Dimensions" for the previous year and the current M.Sc. final year were released, each of which contains a compilation of researches from all students in the Masters program's final year.
The presentation and display were visited by Faculty and Students of different departments. Prof. Manu Sharma, Coordinator, Panjab University's Technology Enabling Centre, praised the students' efforts and remarked a high potential of the fashion and lifestyle technology department in addressing many industry issues. He further said that TEC can collaborate closely with UIFT on some industry-collaborative projects.

Five different titles were bestowed to congratulate the students on their hard work and excellence of ideas executed. Award for Excellence in research was awarded to Lakshita, Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation was awarded to Ashwita; whereas Diksha was awarded for Most Significant Research, Kritika was awarded for Outstanding research content and Gurpreet was Awarded for Social impact of research.