Cognizance, the annual technical fest of IIT Roorkee, has been run by students since 2003 and is the 2nd largest technical fest in Asia. It has something in store for all and brings together renowned experts of various spheres of academic and corporate industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has unhinged the lives of people across the globe. Due to pandemic situations and enormous measures such as lockdown and stay at home orders, the fest had to be conducted in the hybrid mode. Cognizance 2022 was the 20th edition and the first-ever hybrid edition of Cognizance was conducted this year i.e. different events, workshops, and guest lectures were conducted both online and offline simultaneously for the first time in the 20 years history of Cognizance. The absence of IITR students,who are the heart of Cognizance due to the pandemic was immensely felt! However,team Cognizance came up with innovative solutions to tackle this problem.

All the events and workshops which had to be conducted online got enormous participation. This year Cognizance had 26+ events, 15+ workshops, 6 Guest lectures, and 4 exhibitions which provided a platform for the zeal and zest of young minds to speak out loud and to promote the skills aiming to reach the pinnacle of their mind. It was a 3-day technical extravaganza hosting events like CTF (CyberSecurity), Innovation Conclave (Innowave, Pedalthon, Agrone) which aims to present a technically feasible model to an existing issue in society, several gaming events, quizzes, marketing, and business strategy events along with case studies. These diverse events were planned to promote the exploration of various different fields among students. The prize money distributed among students was worth INR 25+ Lakhs. This year we had students participating from 3000+ colleges all across the world. We had partnerships with top-class faculties from across the globe. Students were given an amazing platform for learning about topics like Space exploration, Finance, Coding, Data Science etc. Techzhibition was our first offline event after lockdown which indeed was a grand one.

With huge glamor, the valedictory ceremony was held on 28 March, 2022 in the auditorium of biotechnology. The place was enlightened by the auspicious presence of M.K.Barua, ADOSW, Manish Anand, Chief Guest, Professor Gorishetty, Associate Professor and Professor Ajanta Ghoswami, Faculty coordinator of Cognizance. The ceremony started with lamp lighting and presenting a sapling to the chief guest. The dignitaries encouraged and motivated the students and appreciated the team for the success of the fest. They also told about the various series of events that were held and to what extent they were taken. They congratulated the team and appreciated their efforts. They told how innovation can be done to lead the society on the better end and how big is the power to judge whether what you are doing is right or wrong. They also talked of how students at IITR follow the legacy to uphold the destiny of the world. Felicitation was held for the team members of 2nd, 3rd and 4th year. Also, feedbacks were taken from the team members about their experience and all students were motivated to innovate as much as they can in the coming years. The ceremony ended on the vote of thanks from Mr. Anekant to the team members for their relentless efforts and finally a group photo was taken. The whole event was a great example of how teamwork leads to huge success.

Cognizance 2022 drew to an enthusiasm filled end on the evening of 28th March 2022 where Lucky Raja and one of India's best stand-up comic Harsh Gujral were invited for a techtainment night attended by 3000 plus students of IIT Roorkee. The audience was brimming with zeal as everyone eagerly waited for the very funny Harsh Gujral to cackle everyone up. The zest could be felt in the atmosphere as the crowd kept cheering and hooting all throughout Harsh’s performance. Harsh Gujral kept the entire audience, consisting of hundreds of people, spellbound for an hour and left everyone wishing for more after that.

Cognizance 2022 came out to be a huge success in spite of the fest being conducted online with only one offline event. The entire team of Cognizance 2022 along with the volunteers tirelessly worked day and night making presentations, arrangements, and gathering funds. The participation received in all the workshops, competitions and other events was overwhelmingly huge and much greater than what was expected. We had over 1300+ Student Partners all over India who are directly tied up with our core team who burnt the midnight oil to make Cognizance 2022 a grand success. For the team,  "Cognizance is not just a technical fest; it is an emotion for us." The pandemic forced the event committee to conduct the fiesta online but, that didn’t waver the enthusiasm and the need to learn of the participants.The sponsorship and the participation received this year was way more than what Cognizance 2021 could gather which shows the path of constant improvement towards which Cognizance is headed. Cognizance 2022 promised to carry forward the legacy of Cognizance, the second-largest technical fiesta in Asia, and the promise was fulfilled to its best.