IInvenTiv, first-ever all-IITs R&D Showcase launched at IIT Delhi

HYDERABAD: IInvenTiv, the first-ever all-IITs R&D Showcase, was launched on Friday at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, by Union Minister for Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan.

The two-day event, which concludes on October 15, brings together academia and industry to highlight India's global R&D strength. The R&D Fair is being held in conjunction with the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's independence. Over 300 representatives from industry, including startups, as well as government and embassy officials, and global IIT-alumni, have attended.

Aside from that, an estimated 3000 attendees will attend the event, including faculty, students, and research scholars from various institutions, among others. The initiatives aim to improve all facets of society and are in line with the Make in India, Digital India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat visions.

 IIT-H at IInvenTiv

There are 75 projects and 6 showcase projects on a variety of topics, including defence and aerospace, healthcare, environment and sustainability, clean energy & renewables, manufacturing (including smart, advanced, and industry 4.0), AI/ML/Blockchain technologies (including quantum computing), smart cities & infrastructure and communication technologies, Robotics, Sensors & Actuators, and Semiconductors, Flexible electronics & Nanotechnology, being exhibited at the event.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, BoG IIT Madras, & Chairman, Steering Committee IInvenTiv said, "India's journey through the Amrit Kaal as envisioned by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be led by research and innovation from every section of society. We stand witness to the unfolding of an era that would seek more resilient collective efforts especially from the academia and the industry, to put India at the epitome of R&D. IInvenTiv shall ignite such a will to drive the nation's course of progress across domains."

Dr. BVR Mohan Reddy, Chairman, BoG IIT Hyderabad and IIT Roorkee, & Co-Chairman, Steering Committee IInvenTiv said, "We're glad that our collective vision for organizing such a large scale event is a reality now. As India transitions from the time when we depended primarily on traditional silos for developmental goals, it is time for more collaborative and multi-disciplinary efforts among the academia, industry, and administration, to lead the revolution across sectors and help make India Atmanirbhar."

Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director IIT Bombay, and Convener of IInvenTiv 2022, said, "In today's fast-changing world, a robust R&D ecosystem is crucial for the nation. The R&D ecosystem, each IIT has caters to a larger national cause and IInvenTiv celebrates that. It is only our collective efforts in conjunction with the industry, administration and other institutions that would help us realize the vision of making India self-sustaining across sectors."

A brochure for IInvenTiv was launched by Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan, followed by a visit to the exhibition booths. Out of the 6 showcase projects, IIT Kanpur has led the showcase on the advancements in drone technology and how India can leverage from it; IIT Bombay has led a presentation on the Bahubhaashak project, which enables speech-to-speech translation of NPTEL, SWAYAM, MOOCs videos in vernacular languages, in-line with the vision of National Education Policy 2020; IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur have jointly led a showcase on 5G Core and allied technologies; IIT Delhi has led a showcase on the R&D in the broader areas of climate change, agriculture, rural technologies, sanitation etc; IIT Kharagpur has led a presentation on affordable healthcare devices and technologies; and IIT Hyderabad has led a presentation on the technological innovations in the electric vehicle (EV) sector.

The projects range from India's indigenous micro-processor SHAKTI, Matsya Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, TacVibes: a novel haptic watch for the visually impaired, 3D bioprinted skin disease models, portable emergency ventilators to Global Navigation Receiver Chip (Dhruva) Development for NAVIC, and Bhu-Parikshak soil-testing device, to name a few.

The two-day event would host representatives from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), along with students, global IIT alumni, faculties of various CFTIs, scientists from DRDO, ISRO, CSIR and ICAR, and so on.