The purpose of the event was to identify idea for incubation and commercialization. Registration was open to students and faculties of all engineering colleges in Bangalore. The participants submitted their ideas for either of the four following themes, namely – (1) Energy & sustainability (2) Agriculture & allied business (3) Nano & Novel materials and (4) IT/ IoT.
Cash prize worth Rs 25,000 was equally distributed among five winners. The event witnessed as many as 80 entries, out of which 58 got approved to compete. The business ideas ranged from sustainable development, health-care, traffic management, to clean energy and many more. The participants proposed some innovative solutions to a range of real-world problems, which included cutting edge technologies such as image-processing, composite materials, Swarm technologies, etc.
The panel included industry experts like Dr. Dinesh Ramegowda, Senior Manager for R&D, Amazon, Mr. Sai Prasad, Retired Senior Scientist, ISRO, Mr. Hulakund, Deputy General Manager, Agni Motors, and Mrs. Mamatha from Wuerth Elektronik India Pvt Ltd. Senior professors from the School of Engineering and Technology, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) were also members of the panel. The evaluation criteria were detailed covering various aspects of ideation, product, marketing and other relevant parameters.
The shortlist was done in two rounds. Firstly, 50-odd entries were shortlisted into 12 by a group of 3-5 panelists. And finally, before the entire panel the Top-12 ideas were once again evaluated to shortlist the Top-5. Many of the ideas were innovative and some displayed potential for commercialization. Ultimately, five final ideas were taken up for scrutiny in subsequent rounds of evaluation.
Of all, an idea on ‘Diagnostic Technology’ received overwhelming consensus among panelists. Students of RVCE College proposed the idea to build a device called “Lab-on-a-chip” as a solution to laboratory functions. The device is capable of integrating one or several laboratory functions on a single chip of only millimeters to a few square centimeters in size. LoCs deal with the handling of extremely small fluid volumes down to less than pico liters. Lab-on-a-chip devices are a subset of MEMS devices and sometimes called "Micro Total Analysis Systems" (µTAS). LoCs are, as of today, used only in chemical analysis methods. This project involves integration of a conventional LoC with advanced Nano materials that are involved in Nano sensors. It can also help building electronic circuitry to collect data from the analysis.
The panelists felt the idea have the potential to plug the gap in large scale diagnostic facilities in the world. They consented that virtual non-existence of such facilities could be a driving force to commercialize this device. Also, the ease of use of such a device will allow it to be almost universally accepted.
The one-day event saw as many as 200 participants and all of them hailed the initiative as important for aspiring entrepreneurs. Aditya A from RV College of Engineering, who is a member of one of the winning teams echoed the same. He said, “It is a great initiative to bring out the innovator of a person.” Another participant, Dhanalaxmi HR from GSSS Institute of Engineering and Technology for Women, called it the right platform to express idea.
