The fourth edition of aQuest, an all-India student quiz competition in which a large number of ISHRAE student chapters across India participated, was a part of the bouquet
of events that comprised ACREX India 2017. Johnson Controls- Hitachi was the Quiz Partner. With the tagline ‘The ultimate engineering face-off’, its preliminary rounds were held by various ISHRAE chapters among student chapters across the country. The final round had a compelling format that held the participants as well as the house-full audience spellbound for a full three hours. It alternated between serious quizzing, questions to the  audience and pure entertainment by ISHRAE’s very own rock star Arvind Vegda. Gautham Baliga, Nitin Naik and Prashant Desai from ISHRAE planned and executed the event. Deepak Arjare (Student Chair, ISHRAE) made the opening remarks. V. K. Seth addressed the audience. Ashish Rakheja appreciated JCI-Hitachi India supporting all rounds of the competition down to every college, quarterfinals, semifinals and the Grand Finale. V. Krishnan introduced the audience to aQuest. Gurmeet Singh, Senior Vice President at JCI-Hitachi India, informed the audience that the company operates in an industry that is large and growing. It inducts 20-25 fresh engineers every year. He exhorted the students to have a close look at the company, and join it if they have the aptitude and the inclination. A quiz competition was held in the social media on the sidelines of the main contest, in which over 10,000 students participated. The winner of the social media contest, Pranab Morchapure, was nominated on the panel of ‘Wise Guys’ – one of the lifelines available to the contestants. The other panel members were Tim Wentz (ASHRAE President), Peter Simmonds (ASHRAE DL), Jeff Littleton (Vice President, ASHRAE), Prof. A. K. Ahluwalia (an eminent professor) and Dr. Rajendra Singh (Pusa College of Engineering). The quizmaster was Nitin Arora, a thorough professional who conducted the event with élan. He explained the format of the quiz and the rules of the game. In addition to the semifinal round winners – two teams from LBRCE (Vijaywada) and one each from MIET (Meerut) and KIT (Kolhapur) – there were two wild card entries: losing quarterfinalists selected by draw of lots – IET (Indore) and IEM (Kolkata). Himanshu Dhiman and Karun Singhal from MIET (Meerut) won the quiz and were presented a cheque for Rs. 50,000. Debdut Bosu and Soumik Chakraborty from IEM (Kolkata) were the first runner-up, and went home with Rs. 30,000. The third prize of Rs. 20,000 was won by Lokesh Mannapu and Krishna Virinchi (LBRCE Vijaywada).