This platform isn’t just a website—it’s a scalable digital foundation for student-led innovation. It demonstrates how technical communities can operate like modern software teams by combining clean design, robust tooling, and a clear development workflow.
Introduction
The SR-DTU Platform is the digital backbone of the Society of Robotics at Delhi Technological University. It was architected to unify the society’s activities, increase public visibility, and simplify internal collaboration—built with developer-first best practices to ensure long-term maintainability.
Problem Statement
Before this platform, SR-DTU operated through fragmented communication and documentation:
- Events were promoted via chat apps, with no searchable or archived listing.
- Projects lacked public visibility—making it harder for members to showcase contributions or gain recognition.
- Team coordination was dependent on informal tools like WhatsApp and spreadsheets, leading to inefficiencies.
- No central system existed to represent the society’s structure, achievements, or roadmap.
These challenges stifled collaboration, reduced transparency, and made it hard to scale or onboard new members.
Technical Stack
Layer | Technologies Used |
Frontend | React, Next.js (App Router) |
Styling | Tailwind CSS, semantic HTML, A11y standards |
Architecture | Atomic Design, modular routing, mobile-first design |
Deployment | Netlify + GitHub (CI/CD, previews, branch deploys) |
Optimization | Static Site Generation (SSG), SEO tags, sitemap.xml |
Tooling | ESLint, Prettier, Husky, GitHub, VS Code |
System Architecture
The platform is designed with modularity, maintainability, and developer experience at its core:
- Component System: Built using atomic design methodology (atoms → molecules → organisms), enabling reusability and scalability.
- Routing: Clean, human-readable URLs using Next.js App Router (
/events,/projects, etc.).
- Rendering Strategy: Fully statically rendered (SSG) for maximum speed and zero server costs.
- Responsive Design: Tailwind’s utility classes provide a mobile-first approach with adaptive layouts.
- Accessibility: Includes keyboard navigation, screen-reader support, proper heading hierarchy, and
arialabels.
Core Modules and Features
Each page or feature is built as a standalone module, allowing future additions with minimal code changes.
1. Homepage
- Brief intro and mission
- CTAs linking to events, projects, and team sections
2. Events
- Timeline-based layout for past and upcoming events
- Supports descriptions, images, and external links
3. Projects
- Cards with project title, contributors, links (GitHub/demo), tech stack
- Useful for showcasing both group and solo contributions
4. Team
- Auto-sorted photo grid (Executive → Core → Associate)
- Includes member bios and contact links
5. Contact
- Links to society’s email, LinkedIn, GitHub
- Ready for form integration
6. Gallery (Planned)
- Visual archive sorted by event/type
- Photo/video carousel with lightbox functionality
7. SEO & Social
- Dynamic Open Graph (OG) tags for link previews
- Static
sitemap.xmlandrobots.txtfor indexability
Design & Development Decisions
Why Next.js?
- File-system routing makes development intuitive
- Supports static and dynamic rendering when needed
- Excellent developer tooling and ecosystem
Why Tailwind CSS?
- Enforces consistent spacing, colors, and typography
- Mobile-first, utility-first design = faster development
- Minimizes need for custom styles or class conflicts
Why Netlify?
- Atomic deploys and previews for every Git branch
- Built-in form handling, environment variables, and CDN
- GitHub-integrated CI/CD with minimal setup
Why Static Site Generation (SSG)?
- Fast load times and reduced hosting costs
- Ideal for content that changes infrequently
- Easy to integrate with future CMS or APIs
Why Focus on Accessibility?
- Improves usability for all users
- Compliant with A11y standards and WCAG guidelines
- Benefits search engines and screen reader tools
Impact & Outcomes
The platform drastically improved how SR-DTU operates and presents itself:
✅ Unified project, event, and team listings in a single place
✅ Improved discoverability with SEO-optimized static pages
✅ Enabled professional showcasing of student work
✅ Simplified future contributions via Git-based modular code
✅ Lowered coordination overhead through centralized workflows
It didn’t just upgrade a website—it laid the foundation for a digitally mature, scalable student organization.
Planned Enhancements
Feature | Description |
DTU SSO Integration | Role-based login system using institutional emails |
Admin Dashboard | Internal UI for managing content (projects, events, gallery) |
CMS Integration | Allow non-developers to update news, tutorials, or announcements |
GitHub Submissions | Project submission form with GitHub PRs integration |
Workshop Archive | Indexed collection of past workshops, filters by year/topic |
Tag-based Gallery | Visual archive organized by type or occasion |
Internal Kanban Board | Task tracking system for ongoing projects and roles |
Contributing & Community
The project is open-source, encouraging contributions and knowledge sharing:
- All code and issues are hosted on GitHub
- Clear contribution guidelines (PR formatting, commit naming, etc.)
- Modular folder structure makes it easy to add new features
- Open to contributions in: features, design, performance, A11y, and documentation
This platform marks the beginning of a developer-driven, student-owned ecosystem at DTU.