Texas Instruments India (TI India), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education in India, Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Indian Institute of Management  Bangalore (IIMB) have joined hands to strengthen the innovation ecosystem, enhance skills and drive a start-up culture amongst engineering students by ensuring that India Innovation Challenge Design Contest (IICDC) is accessible to students even in remote corners of the country. IICDC is a national design contest for engineering students.

Chairman Award, SRM Institute of Science &Technology, Tamil Nadu

The announcement was made at the finals of IICDC 2018, coinciding with the announcement of this year’s top 10 winning teams. The 10 finalists will get an opportunity to take their start-up idea from the lab to the market, supported by a fund from DST of INR 4.94 Crore, incubation at NSRCEL, the innovation and entrepreneurship hub at IIM Bangalore, and technical mentorship from TI engineers along with access to TI tools and technology. To-date, IICDC has incubated 20 start-ups.

First RunnerUp Award for IICDC 2018, A. P. Shah Institute of Technology, Maharashtra

SRM Institute of Science and Technology from Tamil Nadu won the Chairman Award for Technical Innovation on ‘Inkless Printing Technology’. A. P. Shah Institute of Technology from Maharashtra was the first runners up for their innovation ‘Solar Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Node’ and Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College from Puducherry was adjudged second runners up award on their innovation ‘Mustard Seed Processor Machine’.

Congratulating the IICDC 2018 winners, Sanjay Srivastava, Director, TI India University Program said, “IICDC’s vision is to give students an opportunity to be innovators and entrepreneurs, launching path-breaking technology products and solving tough, real-world challenges. In 2018, IICDC reached more than 26,000 students from 1760 colleges and we received over 10,000 ideas! The diversity of students fuelled the diversity of ideas. For instance, several ideas focus on agriculture – a segment widely deprived of technology advances. Interestingly, more than 90% of participation comes from Tier II and Tier III towns. That’s the kind of grassroots innovation we want to drive through IICDC.”

Elaborating on the partnership with IICDC, Prof. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, said, “AICTE’s mission to develop robust technical institutions and promote a scientific mind-set is perfectly aligned with IICDC’s mission to strengthen technical innovation in India. We see students as India’s change-makers with the responsibility to drive cutting edge technological innovation. We understand that the next big idea can come from any corner of the country! Our message to the student community is simple – no matter which college you study in or which pin code you reside in, if you have a powerful idea and a drive to make a difference, IICDC will give you an opportunity to achieve your goal.”

The last three editions of IICDC saw students file over 150 patents, and the numbers are increasing every year. Dr. Anita Gupta, Associate Head, DST, said, “We continue to partner with IICDC because it is a unique, powerful platform to drive student-led, tech-focused innovation. DST’s goal is to transform India to a global hub for innovation in science and technology. We also want to support innovation that can make an impact on the ground, tackling social, economic and environmental challenges. IICDC helps strengthen the innovation ecosystem by providing an opportunity to students to develop creative solutions for real world problems. Our seed funding to the winning teams aims to bring the best of these ideas to life.”

Professor Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chair, NSRCEL at IIMB, said, “Though IIMB is not a technical institution, we believe strongly that we can aid in the creation of sustainable technical ventures through our expertise in developing businesses. Our collaboration with TI-DST in the last 4 years’ IICDC is a testimony to that. At NSRCEL, IIMB’s innovation and entrepreneurial centre, we have successfully incubated around 50 students to help shape their entrepreneurial ideas into start-ups.”

By forging partnerships with multiple stakeholders with far reaching influence in technical education, expertise in business and management, industry knowhow, IICDC aims to foster an innovation and entrepreneurial culture amongst engineering students in India, and to empower them to launch successful companies with a clear purpose to make the world a better place.

IICDC 2019 launch officially announced

TI India also announced the upcoming edition of TI India Innovation Challenge Design Contest (IICDC) 2019 which opens for registration from July 23, 2019 to August 30, 2019. Students can register their innovative ideas and participate in the contest through this link: innovate.mygov.in/iicdc2019/

About Texas Instruments

From connected cars and intelligent homes to self-monitoring health devices and automated factories, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) products are at work in virtually every type of electronic system. With operations in more than 30 countries, we engineer, manufacture, test and sell analog and embedded semiconductor chips. Our employees, about 30,000 worldwide, are driven by core values of integrity, innovation and commitment, and work every day to shape the future of technology.

Learn more at www.TI.com.

About IIMB and NSRCEL

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) builds leaders and entrepreneurs through holistic, transformative and innovative education. An EQUIS accredited business school, IIMB is an acknowledged hub of academic activity in India and across the globe. IIMB’s research centres include the Centre for Capital Markets and Risk Management (CCMRM), Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship (CCGC), Centre for Management Communication (CMC), Centre for Public Policy (CPP), Centre for Software & Information Technology Management (CSITM), Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), India-Japan Study Centre, Israel Centre, NSRCEL, and Supply Chain Management Centre (SCMC).

Since in inception in 2002, NSRCEL has brought together entrepreneurs, academicians and industry experts to create an impact on startup founders running profit and non-profit ventures, with support from government agencies, corporates and institutional partners.

Through its rapidly growing open mentoring initiatives, it is estimated that NSRCEL may have directly impacted almost 50,000 entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs and other participants through programs, mentoring and networking sessions specially tailored to the needs of early stage startups.

To know more about NSRCEL, please visit www.nsrcel.org.

About DST

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) set up in 1971 by the Government of India plays a pivotal role in promotion of science & technology in the country. The department has wide ranging activities ranging from promoting high end basic research and development of cutting edge technologies on one hand to service the technological requirements of the common man through development of appropriate skills and technologies on the other. One of the mandates of DST is to support innovations, science and technology based entrepreneurship development and technology business incubation activity through National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (www.nstedb.com). The board engages with academic and R&D institutions and also partners with leading industries to promote entrepreneurship across the country.

About MyGov

MyGov is a novel initiative taken by the Government of India to build a crucial partnership between Citizens and Government with the help of technology for materialising the real potential of India. Through this platform, the Government encourages public participation towards Good Governance by seeking ideas, suggestion and creative talent of citizens. MyGov’s focus is to empower citizens to work hand in hand with government to channelize their collective energy into constructive nation building. National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has designed, developed and hosted the MyGov and twenty (20) of its Sub-Domains.

About AICTE

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, under Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. Established in November 1945 first as an advisory body and later on in 1987 given statutory status by an Act of Parliament, AICTE is responsible for proper planning and coordinated development of the technical education and management education system in India. The AICTE accredits postgraduate and graduate programs under specific categories at Indian institutions as per its charter. 10 Statutory Boards of Studies, namely, UG Studies in Eng. & Tech., PG and Research in Eng. and Tech., Management Studies, Vocational Education, Technical Education, Pharmaceutical Education, Architecture, Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Information Technology, Town and Country Planning, assist it. The AICTE has its new headquarters building in Delhi on the Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.