The first round of screening took place last year covering 89 cities and a total of 1,780 schools. The second qualifying round commenced in the month of April and was spread across two months with its last event ending on May 31.

Brandwidth managed all 89 events for zonal and city level rounds across India. The second round, which was divided into two phases, was conducted across all 89 cities in different regions among 1.5 lakh students competing against themselves and other regions simultaneously.

A key endeavour of Mexus Education, Iken Scientifica is designed for students to spark their imagination and curiosity through its innovative hands-on and technology enabled format that makes students and schools explore science in a different way altogether.

Commenting about the growth of the competition, Saurabh Saxena, Director, Mexus Education, said: "From initiating the pilot program of this competition in three cities, 50 schools and about 1,000 students in 2007, there has been no looking back for Iken and students as it continues to expand its reach amongst the budding geniuses in the remotest areas of the country. We look forward to instilling and encouraging a holistic approach to measure students' capabilities, extraordinary aptitude, lateral thinking and experimentation in students and thus achieving our aim of imparting quality education in the future."

Commenting on the execution in terms of material transportation as well as simultaneous execution of the second round, Poonam Naveen, Operations Manager, Brandwidth Events, said: "Ensuring timely dispatches and controlled execution in terms of event setups, venue recci, material required for students, etc. for more than four events per week happening simultaneously at different cities over a span of two months was a undoubtedly a challenge before us but our past experience and rapport with Mexus Education served as an advantage for our team that tirelessly worked to deliver flawless execution till the end "

Mexus Education is currently in the process of planning for the national finals of Iken Scientifica.