While so far one workshop has already been held, the next
awareness workshop is being conducted on 22nd June at
Guwahati in Assam. Following that, there is another one being
held on 24th June at Kolkata in West Bengal. Apart from that a
workshop will be held on 29th June at Pune in Maharashtra.
The last leg of the workshop series will have one on 14th July at
Bangalore, Karnataka and 15th July at Hyderabad, Telangana.
GOVERNMENT STANDS SOLIDLY BEHIND
GRASSROOTS INNOVATORS, SAYS DR VARDHAN
Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences,
Dr Harsh Vardhan, visited National Innovation FoundationIndia (NIF), Ahmadabad, on 26th June, 2016. He interacted
with the staff members and witnessed an exhibition on
grassroots innovation.
While addressing the press, Dr
Harsh Vardhan underlined the
extraordinary commitment the
present government has made to
ensure that no worthy innovative
idea remains unsupported. National
Innovation Foundation is taking this
determination of the government
forward by providing hand holding support to grassroots
innovators and tens of thousands of school children.
The Minister particularly appreciated the extremely affordable
solutions being developed by the NIF based on the ideas of
knowledge-rich, economically-poor people. He personally tested
the adjustable-leg walker on stairs designed to help elderly and
others needing assistance based on the idea of a school girl.
PARTICIPANTS SHARE INNOVATIVE IDEAS AT BIRAC
HACKATHON AND BIG CONCLAVE
The Biotechnology Industry
Research Assistance Council
(BIRAC) along with its
partners, C-CAMP and IKP
Knowledge Park, conducted a
Hackathon and BIG Conclave
at Bangalore. The Hackathon,
aimed at ideating and hacking
the innovative solutions for - Improved Point of Care Device for
screening, detecting, monitoring for Non-Communicable Diseases
and Assistive Devices, was conducted at IKP Eden from 13-15
June 2016.
Around 16 applicants applied for the Hackathon and 10 were
shortlisted to participate in the Hackathon. Over the period of
three days, around 40 participants from 10 teams were exposed
to areas of technology entrepreneurship, intellectual property
and regulatory and certifications landscape related to
innovations in diagnostics and devices.
A pool of mentors of diversified portfolios including experts in
diagnostics and instrumentation, tech entrepreneurs including
BIRAC grantees, academic entrepreneurs and patent attorneys
hand hold the participants throughout the Hackathon and
helped them in evolving their ideas to prototypes. IKP Eden’s
facilities in engineering tools, including 3D printing aided the
participants to try their hands at the machines and build a
working prototype for evaluation.
On the concluding day, the teams presented their hacks and the
business model to an eminent panel of Jury. 4 Teams were then
adjudged as: one Winner, one 1st Runner Up and two 2nd
Runner Ups, and were felicitated at the 2nd BIG Conclave held
at C-CAMP, from 16-17 June 2016. Around 200 participants
leveraged the Conclave to make and expand their networks for
collaborative opportunities. 35 Posters were showcased during
the event and Best Posters were awarded in the concluding
session. The two day event concluded with the Valedicto