Innovation drives GTU into action

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The university has initiated a project that requires students to come up with 10 low-cost innovations in 10 months for economically weaker section

Yogesh Avasthi
With an aim of promoting low-cost innovations, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has tasked final year engineering students with a unique project – 10 innovations in 10 months.
Students and faculty members will also be analysing the trend of expired patents to target futuristic needs of the bottom-of-pyramid market. Focus will also be on improving the product quality and minimising the production cost.
In order to develop a user-centric model of innovation, the students will measure the need of the industries as well as that of the end users. Users’ choice and affordability have been kept as two of the key parameters in each module.
GTU innovation council has established links with industries and the SME sector, but it still faces the challenge of establishing links with the PSUs of the state. This enabled the university to form a working group called sectoral council.
With advice for a handful of national experts from National Mentoring Network at Techpedia, the students would also have mentors to assist them in their innovations. Energy and environment, and biomedical engineering are the two sectors that have already begun working on the project.
Students in the energy and environment sector will be auditing the energy used by the colleges under GTU and promote creation of a ‘green university’. Innovation council aims to train students to find ways to recycle waste from one industry and use it in another. Students are being made to understand the importance of creation, innovation, preservation and efficiency.
Meetings have been held since July 25 to create a road map for the programme for both these sectors. More than 35 associated mentors are tracking real time development of each of the industry defined problems.
Presently, the total number of students involved in this project from biomedical engineering at GTU are 2,700 including 36 students of ME, 1,420 of BE and 1,250 of diploma engineering. Around 16,000 students will be involved from the energy and environment sector.
A total of 55 faculty members will also be associated with the project. During the academic year 2011-2012, 145 biomedical engineering students in bachelor of engineering and 300 in diploma engineering will start work on 107 industry or user defined projects.
For this, they will be visiting hospitals, start-ups, existing biomedical companies and national labs. Dr Devi Shetty, a member of National Innovation Council, is leading one of the teams assigned to design the road map for the medical or health care innovation.

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