Students display innovation prowess at IIT Bombay's Invention Factory 2022
The Invention Factory program at IIT Bombay, a six-week idea-to-prototype-to-pitch initiative, concluded on July 1, 2022. During the finale, participants of the Invention Factory Programme highlighted and demonstrated their inventions. A notable jury of innovators presented and evaluated these student innovations. The grand finale concluded with the declaration of the winners, a valedictory ceremony for the members of the jury, and a gala dinner.
- The program was initially developed in 2013 by professors Alan Wolf and Eric Lima in the US.
- The program's goal was to give young students an opportunity and platform to create products of their preference.
- Students from all the IITs across India participated in the six-week program, which gave them the opportunity to collaborate in groups of two to prototype and present their inventions.
On May 19, 2022, the Invention Factory Programme began. IIT Gandhinagar organized it for two summers before IIT Bombay this year. During this time, student teams created a total of ten inventions. Two provisional patent applications—one in the US and one in India—will be submitted for each of these inventions. Based on their original and problem-solving inventions, three teams were named the program's winners.
Sripriya Konda, a native of Hyderabad, Telangana, and Shaan Sapru, a native of Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, both students of IIT Kharagpur, won first place and prize money of Rs. 2 lakhs for creating a "Smart Clubfoot Brace." This device is an intelligent corrective brace for children with the goal of achieving a greater compliance rate, allowing every infant with clubfoot to sleep peacefully.
Arpit Upadhyay and Mohit Jajoriya of IIT Bombay won second place and a prize of Rs. 1 lakh for inventing a 'Hand Pump with an Integrated Water Purification System.' The purpose of this product is to facilitate citizens' access to safe and clean drinking water, particularly in rural areas. This product is unique in that it conducts reverse osmosis without the use of electricity.
Rahul Bansal of IIT Ropar and Phalgun Vyas of IIT Madras finished third and received a Rs. 50,000 cash prize for developing an 'Active Thermoregulatory Vest.' The vest is lightweight, power-efficient, and user-friendly, and the customer can customize the vest's temperature to suit their needs. This vest's unique feature is that it keeps the body cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
At the finale, Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of IIT Bombay, stated, "Over the years, IIT Bombay has contributed significantly to India's growing entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem with its cutting-edge R&D." While Eric Lima, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cooper Union and co-creator of the program, stated, "The differences (and similarities) between....the US...and Indian students are fascinating.....The biggest similarity....students....want to contribute to society...and make it better."
