Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 17 - Thirty innovative products, including an automatic solar panel guide system, a punching station and a surveillance robot to detect bombs, are vying for top honours at the 'TechTop-2009', a two-day engineering event started here Monday.

The exhibition, being organised by Technopark in association with the Indian arm of the US-based Degree Controls Inc, is a platform for engineering students across the country to showcase their innovations.

Thirty products have been shortlisted from 222 applications from 17 engineering colleges in the country for the fourth edition of TechTop.

Somenath Ghosh, chairman and managing director of National Research Development Corp (NRDC), inaugurated the exhibition on the Technopark campus.