Inavamsi Enaganti has long been a dreamer. He keeps ever-evolving lists of life goals, ticking them off as he achieves them, then adding more. One childhood dream has burned particularly brightly in his mind: Create a science-focused amusement park.
Enaganti is now working on a version of that dream through India’s Param Foundation. The Bengaluru-based not-for-profit is led by young technology professionals who are seeking to create immersive science education programs by building science centers and experiences in public spaces, where visitors can interact with them instead of simply viewing exhibits through a display case.
“Science is for everyone; it’s a lifestyle,” Enaganti says. “It’s not just a school subject or something that makes advanced technology better. It’s involved with everything we do: Why do we sleep at night? Why do we walk a certain way? Why are there stars in the sky? When we start asking these questions, we become more informed about our world.”
After opening a small center last January, Enaganti is now leading an effort to build the Param Science Experience Centre (Parsec) in Bengaluru’s Channenahalli neighborhood. It is to be the flagship location, in addition to mini exhibits and experiences located in parks and bus stops throughout the city.
The spaces join the small gallerywhich Param opened in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar neighborhood. The 465-square-meter space features six exhibits, each focusing on a single topic. In the gallery’s illusion section, for example, guests can step into an exhibit that plays with their sense of perception to make one person appear far larger than another in the same space. The Beuchet chair illusion features an oversized seat with four normal-size legs. When viewed from a certain angle, it looks like a regular chair. But a person sitting in the seat is farther away from the viewer and thus appears small.
The Cardboard Cosmos: A Lilliputian World display is packed with tiny, intricate mockups of cardboard items such as houses, furniture, and futuristic airships. The showcase, in collaboration with the sustainable living startup Out of the Boxis meant to highlight the power of engineering when combined with artistry—and how one’s imagination can be unlocked with even simple materials such as cardboard.
More than 40,000 people have visited the gallery, including 2024 IEEE President Tom Coughlin and 2025 IEEE President Kathleen Kramer, who toured the center in July.
“They were like two kids wandering around a candy shop,” Enaganti says of the IEEE presidents. “Dr. Coughlin was playing with immiscible liquid tiles to create patterns in the tactile gallery. Dr. Kramer was riding around on our Walking Cycle, which uses a planar leglike mechanism designed by kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen to look like the bike itself is walking. They were just so excited. They had just gotten off a plane and must have been jet-lagged, but you’d never know from the joy on their faces. That’s what we hope to create for everyone.”
Quantum mechanics and an auditory experience
The new, 18,580-square-meter flagship center in Channenahalli is scheduled to open in phases, starting in October. Enaganti expects it will attract around 8,000 visitors daily.
Beyond the main science gallery, the facility will include a cultural center, a 3,000-seat exhibition space, a startup incubator and innovation lab, and a history center with programs that teach about ancient India, he says.
Exhibits at the new Parsec Channenahalli, he says, will reflect an interdisciplinary spirit. His team of about 100 people includes scientists, engineers, product specialists, marketers, and architects.
A few exhibits will center on how ancient Indian philosophy intersects with quantum mechanics, he says. One, he says, will play on the concept of observer-dependent reality: It combines the theory of quantum superposition—which posits that a system exists in multiple states until measured—with a Hindu philosophy that suggests the inner, unchanging core of one’s self is the ultimate observer of an ever-evolving universe. In the exhibit, visitors will enter a room filled with white screens that appear blank when viewed directly, Enaganti says. But when they peer through special polarized films, each of which filter the light differently, the screens will reveal different shapes and forms.
Another exhibit, Rain Instrument, will be an auditory experience, Enaganti says. It’s a collaboration with the interactive-art collective 1377. The synthesizer allows visitors to create music by controlling water droplets that fall on steel plates of varying sizes to make each note.
Enaganti wants to hold monthly community events at which participants can attempt to break science-focused Guinness world records.
The design of the Parsec Channenahalli space will be something of an exhibit itself, he says, explaining that the lights, curtains, and even the walls will be modular. Gallery spaces can be expanded, reduced, or combined to suit a given exhibit, he says.
“Science is life, and life is always evolving—so the building must as well,” he says. “You can’t just build a building and say, ‘OK, we’re done. This is science.’ This is what we mean by a lifestyle. Even the building must live.”
Representatives from the Param Foundation and its Science Centre Sri Arun Seetharam, Sri Ganesh, Ganesh Prasad S, and Inavamsi Enaganti welcomed 2024 IEEE President Tom Coughlin, 2025 IEEE President Kathleen Kramer, IEEE Senior Director Sri Chandrasekaran, and Chankaya University Associate Professor Naresh Dixit. Tushar Sharma
Teaching about science in public places
City spaces are another essential element in teaching people science, Enaganti says. His team is working with the municipal civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to create experiences. They include sundials installed at parks: People who step into one of the sundials become the gnomon, which is the post on the dial that casts the shadow onto the hourly scale.
Digital displays at train stations and bus stops are to include science puzzles, infographics showing real-time air pollution and emissions levels, and scientist avatars that can answer questions.
Enaganti and his team are already thinking about what’s next after the flagship’s opening, such as more experiential learning sessions at the center, additional exhibits in rural communities, and centers in other regions of the country, including Hyderabad and Udaipur.
“We think the main center will be like a Hall of the Greats, where you come once or twice a year. And then you have your local mini centers and parks where you can engage in your local community,” Enaganti says. “You need that granularity to really make science a lifestyle.”
Parallels with IEEE’s mission
The Param Foundation depends on donations, corporate sponsorships, partnerships with schools and industry organizations, and the work of volunteers to do its work. Enaganti began at Param as a volunteer before being named director in 2022.
Another volunteer and Param advisor is IEEE Member Tushar Sharmathe director of engineering at Renesas Electronics Corp. Sharma, who is based at the company’s San Diego office, often travels to Bengaluru.
“As an engineer, I’ve always sought opportunities where my work could directly impact humanity and society,” he says. “In today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape, a pressing challenge is fostering a new generation of scientific thinkers—individuals deeply connected not just to technology but also to values and culture.”
Param has made progress, he says, by “embedding science into everyday life as a source of joy and lifestyle transformation.” He says he hopes it becomes “a foundational movement, paving the way for future scientists, technologists, engineers, managers, and artists worldwide.”
Sharma sees parallels with IEEE’s mission: “Param embodies the scale and vision IEEE has always aspired to achieve, demonstrating the profound impact of technology infused with purpose and values. I am delighted that Tom (Coughlin) and Kathleen (Kramer) had the opportunity to witness firsthand the depth and reach of this remarkable initiative, which aligns so closely with IEEE’s ethos.”
Enaganti says he’ll know Param has truly succeeded when it no longer needs to exist.
“I want a world where Param is no longer required,” he says. “Where we’ve spread this message of science so people on their own say, ‘Hey, let’s think, let’s question, let’s ask why.’ When we get to that point, everyone’s home and community will be a mini Param.”
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