NERD - Notes on Engineering, Research and Development is a student-led initiative by students of IIT Kanpur to promote appreciation of Science and Technology through better better communication. The idea of NERD has been around for a long while but the actual formulation began in June 2007 and the work started in December 2007, with the first issue of the magazine coming out in June 2008. Lately,
NERD has come to mean two distinct parts - the magazine that publishes articles, contributions by students and scholars as well as interviews of famous people. These contributions are NOT papers but accurate versions that are more easily understandable to non expert audience and are written by students. There is a huge emphasis on comprehensibility of the content. That is what will make NERD different from a journal. We want that science and technology should be made accessible not just in the physical sense but also in terms of understanding. A one line explanation would be that all content should be well understood by an interested freshman. NERD also organizes SCoPE Talk (Science Communication and Public Engagement) to promote its mission - an integral part of its overall existence. NERD sponsored competitions include Scientoon, Science Poetry Writing and Science Fiction Writing, a Takneek (intra IITK sci-tech festival) staple. Workshops, including ones on Scientoon, Science Ethics debate, Poster presentation and Science Communication also come under the purview of NERD.
