V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT-Madras, at the press conference held on Monday. | Photo Credit: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN Shaastra 2025, the technical festival of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M), which will be held from January 3 to 7, is expected to attract around 1.25 lakh participants to the campus. The 26th edition will feature 80 contests and 130 stalls, including those set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Navy, and the Army, said V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT-M. On the first two days, the institute will host an open house, for which over 55,000 participants have registered, Mr. Kamakoti told mediapersons here on Monday. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is collaborating with the institute for this year’s festival. Though the Naval Department of the IIT-M does the maximum number of consultancies, very few students opt for the discipline, Mr. Kamakoti said. NIOT director Balaji Ramakrishnan recalled that 31 years ago, NIOT began functioning at IIT-M, and this collaboration was like a homecoming. Discussing the NIOT’s project, he said: “We have the capability to …