Innovation Stars At Invention Factory

Engineering is a problem-solving discipline. It is endless, widespread in various fields and is always progressing. Technology has changed the human world dramatically. It will exist as long as the human world is alive.

Technology is more than just coding; this is the door to many opportunities and brilliant work. Engineering in India has a bright and successful future. The Industrial Revolution introduced  new technologies that required engineers to constantly update. Machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics are some of the emerging trends shaping India's future.

Maker Bhavan Foundation's 'Invention Factory' is an attempt to provide the young and promising future engineers of India to channelise their talent in the right direction.

This six-week residential programme teaches young innovators and makers how to prototype, pitch and patent inventions. This intensive summer project extends beyond IITs, NITs and BITs, allowing students from all engineering and design institutes to participate. Students get the opportunity to learn from IITs’ faculty and reside on the campus throughout the programme.

Students are grouped as teams to create ideas, build prototypes and file patents for their work in the US and India. Teams compete for a substantial prize money for the 'best inventions' which is assessed and judged by an illustrious panel of experts. They select the inventions with functioning prototypes that successfully meet an important societal or consumer need.

Engineering is not only about intense technology and coding; the purpose of engineering also lies in solving the real life day-to-day household issues. Like a paper-pin or a safety pin which is a tiny tool but holds an immense level of utility.

In the latest edition of the programme at IIT Bombay, a total of 5 teams participated, each consisting of 2 students. The participants devised useful devices like Cramps Relief (a pain-heeler device), Solder Buddy (an efficient soldering device), Grab Easy (a tool which helps pick things from inaccessible corners of the house), Streamline (an accurate liquid dispensor) and Portable Garbage Compactor.

The jury which assessed these projects comprised of distinguished industry experts and IIT Bombay faculty, namely: Ruyintan Mehta, President, WIN Foundation; Sudarshan Saraf, Owner, Technocraft Industries India; Nikhil Gupta, CEO & Fund Manager, Marwari Catalysts Fund; Vijay Nehra, COO, RattanIndia Enterprises; Ganesh Raja, CEO, Kotak Education Foundation; Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder, Rediff.com; Nayan Patel, Director, Packam Controls and Santosh Gharpure, Professor In-Charge SINE & Perfumery Chair Professor, Dept of Chemistry, IIT Bombay.

Ishan Agarwal from Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar and Vrushti Shah from Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, were the winning team who developed Cramps Relief, a therapeutic pain relief device designed to alleviate muscle spasms through pulsating pressure using air compression.

Elaborating on their project, students from another team - Vedant Sanghavi, Civil Engineering, IIT Hyderabad and Yash Golani, Mechanical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur, underlined, “The inspiration behind our innovative mountable garbage compactor stemmed from the painful sight of littered streets and overflowing garbage. Determined to address this pressing issue, we developed a solution aimed at cleaner streets and reduced waste collection frequency, thereby helping to lower the carbon footprint."

They added, "Our product not only tackles the problem of overflowing garbage but also contributes to a more sustainable environment. We owe our progress to the invaluable support and resources provided by the Invention Factory, which has been pivotal in helping us achieve our goals.”

"Invention Factory is a programme for young undergraduate engineers – to help them become innovators and acquire skills that they can leverage for the rest of their lives, be it as creative inventors, effective problem solvers or future business leaders for the nation," stated Damayanti Bhattacharya, CEO, Maker Bhavan Foundation, shining light on the programme.

Bhattacharya added, "By providing access to state-of-the-art makerspaces and mentorship from industry experts, the foundation empowers students to innovate and create solutions that have a lasting impact on society. The foundation's commitment to nurturing talent in Tier II and Tier III cities further underscores its mission to democratise access to quality education and innovation opportunities across India."

“Being at Invention Factory has been full of learning for me. There were moments of both highs and lows. The highs of pitching your invention to the jury and evaluators and their praises and the lows of struggling on a problem, facing difficulties in prototyping and whatnot. But each of these phases teaches us something or the other. It is correctly said that being in Invention Factory keeps you at your toes. To survive here and come out of it successfully, you will have to keep learning and keep evolving both your prototype and most importantly yourself," shared Adarsh Sharma, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, on his experience from the programme.

The exchange of information and transfer of knowledge to which students are exposed in such workshops, help them think out of the box and come up with solutions to some critical issues in the society. We need more such programmes to enhance the capacity and capability of the young minds of India.

Upasana .

BW Reporters The author works as a Senior Copy Editor with BW Businessworld and currently handles the education vertical. She has done her Post Graduate Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (NER Campus, Aizawl).