Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology
Chapter 901 - 901: The Thesis Defence (2/3)

Every year, the thesis defence in Raya University attracts top professors from various universities, researchers from different research institutes, and sometimes even academicians from the Academy of Sciences, or on rare occasions, even some of the leading scientists in the empire.

The reason so many distinguished guests came to Raya University, despite its geographically challenging location, was not because it belonged to the royal family, but because of its hard power: the exceptional quality of its students. As the only prime-tier university in the empire, it once operated at a loss just to maintain educational standards unmatched anywhere in the empire or the world.

The phrase "used to" is key because things have changed. Over the past decade, thanks to the inventions of several brilliant minds at the university, it has begun to recover those losses through royalties, transforming its financial situation entirely.

When a student of the university brings new developments to the world using research funds and equipment provided by the university, the university receives a share of the royalties generated by the patent or invention.

When the university was first established, a little over a decade ago, the royalties earned were not significant. First, the share collected by the university is a small percentage of what the actual inventor receives, and that amount is a mere drizzle compared to the university's overall spending on funding student research. Second, the number of researchers who produced commercially viable patents was far fewer than those whose research yielded no results.

However, after more than a decade of accumulation, all the royalties of various inventions kept adding up, quickly filling up the hole caused by the funding gap, which was normally filled in by the royal family.

Despite the university turning a profit for the first time in nearly 10 years, His Majesty the wise Monarch Rajyapathy Vijay Devaraya did not take back the profits obtained by the university. Instead, he increased the pool of scholarships and provided funds matching that of the profits, increasing the funds for student research, allowing them to experiment more and giving them more chances to succeed.

This unrelenting investment by the management and the support of the royal family led to world-class talents graduating from Raya University every year. This is one of the reasons that despite the tier ranking systems of universities being established over 12 years ago, no university in the empire dared to call itself a prime tier university. Many private universities funded by rich businessmen tried to gain the title by providing similar living conditions to the students, like in the Raya University, but they were never able to produce brilliant engineers, researchers, scientists, and businessmen for the empire like the Raya University did.

Until now, Raya University has produced thousands of chief engineers and researchers responsible for major projects all over the empire, several professors who went on to teach in first and second tier universities, millionaires and multimillionaires who have started their own businesses, pioneering researchers who have founded their own research institutes and obtained a lot of investment from investment banks and interested investors. There are even academicians who have joined the Bharatiya Academy of Military Sciences or Civilian Sciences, not to mention, Raya University has basically become the first choice to obtain talent for Nalanda Institute of Fundamental Sciences and Takshashila Institute of Human Exploration, both cutting-edge organisations in their own fields.

With such a reputation, it was not surprising that for today's thesis defence, over six academicians from the Academy of Sciences, both from civilian and military, the researchers from various research institutes, recruiters from various top companies in the empire, and many other professors from nearby first tier universities had shown up, not to mention the nearly 100 top freshmen from the Raya University and other nearby universities who had come in the form of pilgrimage.

No other word could be as apt as pilgrimage, because a holy place is exactly what Raya University has become, and because of its existence, many first tier universities have propped up in the surroundings, making Sharada Peeth, the residence of Ma Sharada, goddess of knowledge and wisdom, both spiritually as well as materially and figuratively, the peak of education in the empire, a place where all the ambitious geniuses aspire to go, and a hotbed for human resource companies.

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"Maa, do you know what Big Brother is planning to present?" Tanvika asked in a hushed tone as she looked at her big brother, who had just gotten on stage.

Kavya looked at her son, who had already grown up so big, with imperceptible sadness in her eyes. "I don't know, but it should be something related to the Navy," she replied unconsciously.

Tanvika pursed her lips and turned around and asked her father the same question.

Vijay smiled and placed his hand on his daughter's head. "Tanvy, your maa did not lie to you, it is really about the naval industry."

"Paa, I am not stupid, I obviously know that," Tanvika scrunched up her nose like a little rabbit. "But what exactly is he doing in the naval industry?"

Vijay was about to answer, but as he looked at the stage, he smiled. "Turn your head, you will understand yourself."

"Eh?" Tanvika raised her eyebrows and looked around with curiosity, and sure enough, the banner on the screen had been changed. A new project name had been added.

"On the Feasibility of Metal Plating In Naval Vessels."

Her eyes widened, and she was immediately confused. "How is it possible for metal to float on water? Is brother making a mistake?" She became panicked and looked toward her mother with unease.

Kavya didn't say anything, but worry could be seen in her eyes. Vijay, on the other hand, smiled brightly. He obviously knew what his son was going to present, but still he was looking forward to seeing how he would perform and how he would be received.

Sitting in the back, Vedant was reading the report document of Siddharth's thesis defence with gusto. He found the multi-gear power delivery system very interesting, and a lot of inspiration appeared in his mind for the project he had decided on. But when he heard several exclamations from the audience, he curiously looked up, and the title of his brother's project caught his attention. A look of doubt appeared in his eyes, but the next moment the doubt disappeared, and his eyes returned to their previous clarity. Unlike his mother and sister, he didn't feel worried; instead, similar to his father, he was looking forward to what his brother would do.

Agni walked to the centre of the stage and spoke loudly, with confidence radiating from his body.

Looking at Agni's actions and stage presence, an old professor who had seen Vijay in his youth said to his students, "His Highness the Prince has the demeanour of His Majesty."

"Jayshree Ram," Agni spoke out the jayakara, silencing everyone in the auditorium.

"A very good morning to all the respected ladies and gentlemen."

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sir Principal and the management of the college for wholeheartedly dedicating themselves to the line of educating youth such as myself and all my classmates.

I would like to thank the academicians, researchers, professors, freshmen, recruiters, and everyone else for making this event such a lively festival of innovation every year.

With that being said, let me get on with my thesis defence."

Agni turned to look at the screen, as if to explain the meaning of his title, then turned back to the audience, his expression slightly awkward. "Erm, I guess there is no suspense about what I'm going to talk about. The title I have chosen is a bit too simple and too straightforward; there is no sense of mystery at all. All of you have to forgive me, I have not inherited the knack for art from my mother."

This elicited a few chuckles, especially from the academicians, researchers, and top professors who were used to reading esoteric titles.

Kavya, sitting on the balcony, smiled wryly, while Vijay secretly snickered because he remembered when Agni was a child, Kavya actually wanted to train Agni into the next big novelist of the empire. But unfortunately, it turned out that Agni was not too good when it came to storytelling in the form of writing.

Grasping the timing, Agni continued, controlling the rhythm of his speech perfectly like a seasoned speaker, commanding all the attention in the auditorium.

"Without any surprise, my report is about the feasibility of metal plating the wooden hulls of the naval vessels to increase their durability and resistance to damage like collisions or small-calibre bullets in military situations."

He paused and looked around at the auditorium.

"I can see some of my fellow classmates seem to be confused. I bet the question in your minds is, how can metal float on water?"

A few freshmen of Raya University and other universities, whose expressions of doubt and disbelief were too obvious, immediately became embarrassed, but still they nodded their heads, no matter how small their movements were.

Agni smiled and continued, "This is what I call a common-sense trap. Common sense tells us that it's not possible for metal to float on water, and science backs this up as well. We all know that metal is denser than water, so it sinks."

"But here's the problem—sometimes, common sense can box us into a certain mindset, where we assume something is absolute before even considering alternatives."

Agni paused his speech and motioned towards the back of the stage. A few juniors immediately brought over a metal drum filled with water, as well as a bag that contained a sphere of some sort.

Agni, without any fanfare, immediately dumped the bag into the drum that was filled with water.

The bag submerged into the big drum, but halfway through, it came back up and started to float, showing nearly 25% of its surface outside.

Agni finally pulled out the bag from the water and took out the sphere that was within it. The sphere actually looked like it was made up of complete iron. When His Highness Agni shook the sphere in his hand, the sound of liquid shaking could be heard from within.

An academician who understood what was happening smiled with interest as he leaned forward.

"Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is a fully enclosed wrought iron container filled with 20% water."

"So, despite the common sense telling us that it cannot float, why did this sphere float even when there was water within?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the answer to this question is exactly the core principle behind my report."

"The principle that as long as the total density of an object is less than that of water relative to the surface area, irrespective of the material, the object will always float. So in all likelihood, as long as the total density of the naval ship is less than the density of water relative to surface area, the ship will always float, even if it is metal, not to mention just plating with it like I suggested."

"Are there any questions before we move forward?" he asked, passing the iron ball to someone in the audience so it could be passed around for everyone to see for themselves, as he wiped his hands with a towel.

To Be Continued...

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