100 student ideas to help industries grow

GTU will convert 100 best student prototypes designed to meet needs of industries in Gujarat into commercially viable products. It will also seek patents for 1,000 cost-effective models created by engineering students, faculty

Yogesh Avasthi

Posted On Monday, August 29, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011082920110829020543362984c30f2/100-student-ideas-to-help-industries-grow.html)

Gujarat Technological University (GTU) plans to incubate 100 best research prototypes created by final year students of engineering and pharmacy after mapping industry requirements over six months. It will also file for 1,000 patents to protect their intellectual property rights.

As part of a project initiated by GTU and Techpedia – a brainchild of IIMA professor Anil Gupta – more than 50,000 students had visited micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the state to identify their problems and understand their needs in the technical domain. They even carried out the technology, energy, waste and process benchmarking of these MSMEs.

GTU students have documented over 10,800 problems and are now in the process of creating models to address several of them – for example designing automated machines to replace traditional ones or creating new machines that use less electricity and thereby help in reducing costs. Later, GTU will assess these prototypes and file for 1,000 patents. Of these, the best 100 will be incubated by GTU, Techpedia and the interested industries.

Through the project, the industries will get solutions to their problems as well as competent, creative and socially responsibly technology graduates. By applying for patents, the university will help the students and faculties to protect their intellectual property rights. Also, incubating a prototype — developing it into a commercially viable product — will hugely benefit the MSMEs, along with major players in the field of manufacturing and services.

“We shall bear 30 per cent of the incubation cost of the prototypes designed by students. The project will foster innovation-fuelled student-enterprise modules and lead to setting up of several new start-ups,” said Hiranmay Mahanta, MD, Techpedia. The GTU has organised a seminar by industry and legal experts on September 3 to help faculty members and students understand the procedure of filing for patents.

The academia-industry linkage thrust in GTU began in 2010 following several meetings between IIM-A Professor Anil K Gupta and GTU Vice-Chancellor Akshai Aggarwal.

Says Aggarwal, “The research and development (R&D) costs for developing new products, designs and finding solutions for technical and design related problems are very high and unaffordable for most MSMEs.

By developing cost-effective tools designed by the students, we aim to benefit both students and industries and bridge the gap between industry and academia.”