At IInvenTiv fair, IITs to showcase top R&D projects

Twenty-three Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will come together for a mega research and development fair to be held from October 14-15 in New Delhi, officials said on Monday.

Called "IInvenTiv", the event is aimed at creating holistic awareness around research and innovation work being done in the institution and seeking collaborative avenues among state universities and institutes, industry and the IITs for better development and reach of the innovations at the grassroots level.

The fair is being organised in commemoration of the 75th year of India's Independence in line with the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.

Among the themes identified for the fair are Defence and aerospace, Healthcare (including devices and digital health), Environment and Sustainability, Clean Energy and Renewables (including Hydrogen and EV), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) Blockchain technologies (including quantum computing), Smart Cities and Infrastructure (including smart mobility), Communication Technologies (including education and 5G) among others.

"As India is taking strides to scale new heights in research and innovations, the IITs are at the forefront supporting the nation in attaining self-reliance across sectors. IInvenTiv aims to bring focus to key innovations from all the 23 IITs so that awareness regarding R&D at the IITs increases," Pawan Goenka, Chairman, BoG IIT Madras, said at a press conference.

"This would help develop more affordable technologies for the benefit of all. We are expecting active participation from industry, academic and R&D institutions, as well as government to seek more collaborative and multidisciplinary avenues for furthering the vision of Make in India," he added.

At the fair, IITs will showcase projects on diverse areas covering climate change, sustainability, smart city architecture, rural agriculture, affordable healthcare, drone technology, and so on.

Their objective is to promote innovations in line with the Make in India, and Digital India initiatives, and seek solutions for better reach and scalability of innovations that benefit the masses across regions.

"The event would also host administrators and students from institutions from tier 2 and tier 3 cities for them to have a closer glimpse of the R&D ecosystem of IITs and in turn inculcate similar innovation-driven outlook towards developing projects of national interest," a senior IIT Delhi official said.

"It would facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the requirements at the grass roots level in key areas such as agriculture, rural development, sanitation, resource management etc, and would engage them to develop innovations that make a positive impact on a larger section of society," the official added.

A total of 75 projects brought out by 23 IITs have been selected for the event, along with six showcase projects.

IIT Kanpur will lead a presentation on the ongoing R&D in drone technology and how diverse its utilities have become; IIT Bombay will lead a presentation on the Bahubhaashak project, which enables speech-to-speech translation, NPTEL, SWAYAM, MOOCs videos in vernacular languages, in-line with the vision of National Education Policy 2020.

The selected projects will be presented before the audience in designated booths during the two-day mega event.

Representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), will be present at the event.

Also read: IIT researchers create innovative root zone heating system