entrepreneurship – The KGP Chronicle

Agri Business Incubation Foundation at IIT Kharagpur conducts Start-up EXPO 2024 incubating 115 Start-ups

A total of 115 start-ups are currently being incubated, accelerated and graduated from across the country by the Agri Business Incubation Foundation (ABIF) at IIT Kharagpur. Out of 115, 37 Start-ups successfully participated in the ABIF Start-up EXPO 2024 organized from 24^th – 25^th October, 2024. Shri Partho Saha, CGM OFDD, NABARD, Mumbai attended the EXPO as the Chief Guest in the presence of Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur; Shri P.K Bhardwaj CGM NABARD WBRO; Prof. Madan Kumar Jha, HOD, Agriculture and Food Engineering Department and Shri K.V Iyer, Director ABIF along with other senior professors.

Shri Partho Saha, CGM OFDD, NABARD & Chief Guest of the event in his keynote address, emphasized the critical role that start-ups and entrepreneurs play in creating employment opportunities and driving the economy forward. He emphasized on strengthening the rural SME sector, increasing efficiency of rural value chains and how agri-tech start-ups play a vital role in fulfilling these mandates.

“Just like a successful movie or a symphony is a culmination of various efforts, the Start-up EXPO 2024 is a convergence initiative of IIT Kharagpur and NABARD with participation of investors, FPOs and students envisaged to make it a successful event for the ABIF supported start-ups,” remarked the Guest of Honour Shri P.K Bhardwaj, CGM West Bengal Regional Office, NABARD.

Over two days, ABIF start-ups displayed their products and services to a wide audience comprising of investors, fund managers, professors, farmers, students etc. Product based start-ups displayed their products whereas machinery and service based start-ups were displayed through audio visual. Start-ups participated in Pitch Presentation Competitions in front of an expert panel comprising of investors, professors and fund managers to acquire seed money assistance from ABIF along with expert sessions.

The host and Chief Convener of the EXPO, Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Acting Director, IIT Kharagpur highlighted the activities by IIT Kharagpur to foster entrepreneurship and the start-up ecosystem through convergence among its various incubators like ABIF, AI4ICPS, SATHI, STEP and Research Park.

“What you are doing or what you are going to do will have a great impact in making India the 3rd largest economy in the world, therefore have patience and simply remember that farmers’ prosperity is the utmost priority,” said Mr. K V Iyer, Director ABIF to the participating start-up community.

Notable winners in the graduation stage were Syangbos Living Food and Beverages Pvt Ltd, Rural Rise Agrinery LLP and Tender Buds Tea & Crafts Pvt Ltd who won the seed grant of Rs 5 lakhs. Rudranjali Innovative Agritech Pvt Ltd, Aati Pual Mushroom Pvt Ltd and Rhodotion International Pvt Ltd, were awarded with a seed grant of Rs. 1 lakh each. In the acceleration stage, Bisuddha Enterprises, Savrog Udyog Pvt Ltd, Farm Genesis Technology Pvt Ltd, Shri Charbhuja Jaivik Farm, Aqua Doctor Solutions and PR Linseed Based Products were awarded Rs. 2 lakhs each as seed money. The 1st prize of Rs 2 lakhs for the best stall went to Kaffa Kuwwa Innovations Pvt Ltd with Ramanjali Organics winning the second runner up prize of Rs 1 lakh and Anwesha Jena from Makkai with the third runner up prize of Rs. 50000.

About ABIF:

Agri Business Incubation Foundation (ABIF) is a section-8 company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 at IIT Kharagpur. Funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and hosted by Agricultural and Food Engineering (AgFE) Department, IIT Kharagpur, ABIF is mandated to incubate, accelerate and graduate innovative ideas in agriculture, rural development, and allied domain for creating entrepreneurs and start-ups. ABIF is dedicated to execute the graduation of 125 Incubatees over the span of 5 years in Agriculture and allied activities; transfer low cost technologies at AgFE to small and marginal farmers; transfer action oriented climate smart and low cost technologies to rural community; Direct/Indirect employment generation to 1250 rural people and disseminate technologies developed through ABICs to benefit 25,000 farmers. The initiatives by ABIF at IIT Kharagpur manifests its commitment to the service of the nation and is expected to have a lasting positive impact on the start-up ecosystem across the country.

Media Coverage :

Dainik Bhaskar	Prabhat Khabar	Career 360
Fast News	Kolkata Hindi News	Coalfield Mirror
Dainik Jagran	Times of India	Statesman

Times of India The Statesman

Prabhat Khabar Dainik Bhaskar Coalfield Mirror

Inputs by: Mr. Manu Prem, CEO, ABIF, IIT Kharagpur
Email : ceoabif@iitkgp.ac.in

By : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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Hon’ble Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan visits IIT Kharagpur Research Park

To foster an ecosystem for cutting-edge research, commercialization of technologies, and strategic partnerships with industries in West Bengal, Hon’ble Union Minister for Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Education Dr. Sukanta Majumdar visited the IIT Kharagpur Research Park in Kolkata on 20^th August 2024. The Research Park is a concept of integrated eco-system that provides research facilities including technical and infrastructure support along with other paraphernalia services. It focuses on R&D-driven innovation and product-oriented developmental activities using the institute’s wide expertise base and catering to the needs of the Nation and the interests of industry, entrepreneurs, and government agencies.

The IIT Kharagpur Research Park at Rajarhat, Kolkata, is a Section 8 Company, which is a globally recognized hub for innovation, research and technology transfer. With a built-up area of about 1.8 lakh square feet, a carpet area of 1.0 lakh square feet has been developed at Rajarhat, New Town, in Kolkata with funding from the Ministry of Education. It aims to emerge as a single window for national missions, start-ups, industry collaborations, host institutes’ incubators, R&D activities and outreach activities with different partners associated with the Institute and acts as an interface for the industry to collaborate on the commercialization of innovations.

The goals and objectives of the Research Park are to promote collaborative and interdisciplinary research through the sharing of facilities; Enabling technology transfer and commercialization of innovations; Supporting and incubating science and technology-based start-ups; Providing specialized training programs and workshops; Undertaking community outreach initiatives to promote awareness on scientific advancements; and Attracting international partnerships and projects to address global challenges.

The Research Park aims to facilitate the activities of academic units and Centres of Excellence at IIT KGP. Aiming to drive breakthroughs in science and technology research for the benefit of society through strategic partnerships and state-of-the-art facilities, the research park started a nursery industrial estate for small-scale industries at suitable places. It created a pool of sophisticated machine tools, analytical and test equipment, computers with semi-industrial processors and other facilities to support both industrial and central services to sponsored entrepreneurs.

At the same time, it will work with aspiring students, research scholars, staff and faculty members for technology and knowledge-based business development by hand-holding, ease of doing business, and providing IPR and patenting services, developing mechanisms to promote the dissemination of knowledge, cross-fertilization of ideas, and intellectual collaboration. Such interactions aim at enabling the creation of advanced technological solutions for the present and envisaged future industrial and social ecosystem.

During their visit, the Ministers took a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities at the IIT Kharagpur Research Park and met the TCS team of researchers and consultants. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has booked about 30,000 sq ft of space in the science and research park to house its research and development team.

Hon’ble Minister for Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan took cognizance of the collaborative efforts of the 9 Higher Educational Institutions in West Bengal including NIT Durgapur, IISER Kolkata, IIEST Shibpur, IIIT Kalyani, Visva Bharti, IIM Kolkata, NITTR Kolkata, GKCIET Malda, and IIT Kharagpur in terms of research, technology transfer and commercialization, entrepreneurship, training programs, community engagement and infrastructure development. Shri Pradhan reviewed the intuitions, their academic performance, research projects, industry collaborations, rankings and ratings of IIT Kharagpur and other centrally-funded higher education institutions (HEIs) in West Bengal, as well as their future plans for growth and development. He also reiterated the words of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, urging the institutions to reignite the spirit of Nalanda, aiming to transform them into world-class knowledge hubs and contribute to the vision of “Viksit Bharat.”

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, remarked, “This visit highlights the continued focus of the Ministry of Education on strengthening India’s position as a global leader in education, research, and innovation. The IIT Kharagpur Research Park, with its advanced research capabilities and robust industry ties, plays a pivotal role in this vision. It fosters a dynamic environment for cutting-edge research and entrepreneurship, offering academic credits for start-up activities, supporting faculty-driven projects, and facilitating alumni startups through the EIR program and IPR licensing. Startups associated with the Institute or its technologies receive priority support.”

Media Coverage:

Indian Express	The Print
ETV Bharat	News Careers 360
Latesly	Kolkata Hindi News
KGP News	Coalfield Mirror

By : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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IIT Kharagpur launches PUBBS: 4th Generation Public Bicycle Sharing Systems

IIT Kharagpur launches 4^th generation “Make in India” Public Bicycle Sharing system including a smart electro-mechanical IOT module for locking bicycles and its software. Integrated Hardware, Software and Firmware development for a fully automatic bicycle lock and a cloud-based sharing system which is freely available on a subscription basis so that the system can be setup by private individuals without specialized equipment and personnel. This project is funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and involves pilot-scale demonstration within the IIT Campus. Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State for Education inaugurated the Public Bicycle Share System in the presence of Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Department of Architecture & Regional Planning, and other dignitaries.

PUBBS being a provider of a product-service system for enabling a smart and hassle free public bicycle sharing system that prepares the bicycle for a sustainable future presents the following products, developed indigenously for enabling the service. One bicycle sharing app connects multiple PUBBS operator. Some of its important features are listed below:

GSM/GPRS/GPS Manual Lock – features GSM/GPS/Communication; GPS Location tracking; theft detection with GPS location; energy efficient hardware design; enhanced battery life.
GSM/GPRS/GPS Manual Lock- features GSM/GPS/Communication; GPS Location tracking; efficient locking and unlocking with robotic hardware driver; energy efficient hardware design; enhanced battery life.
BLE Semi Automatic – BLE Communication; GPS Location tracking from user device; update circuit and battery protection; energy efficient hardware design; enhanced battery life.
BLE Auto Lock – BLE Communication; GPS Location & operations Tracking from user device update circuit and battery protection; efficient locking & unlocking with robotic hardware driver; enhanced battery life.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, remarked, “PUBBS is the first Make in India smart lock for bicycle/e-bike sharing system. Currently, we have manufactured our first batch of smart locks (Bluetooth based) and we plan to deploy the system for the benefit of guests at the Technology Guest House. We will make the system available free of charge initially for a few weeks and then make it available at a minor charge which will be fixed. PUBBS was also demonstrated at IInvenTiv 2024. A separate project proposal will be prepared before deploying the system on a commercial basis.”

Features of PUBBS User App:

Station and Individual Bicycle Detection
Advanced Operator Detection
You can take a break when on ride using the hold function anywhere in the service area
View Ride History
You can connect with the app through Bluetooth, or via GSM
Customized subscription plans and operational constraints like: Maximum Hold Time or Maximum Ride time

The PI of the project Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Department of Architecture & Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “Multiple variants of the product are created including Bluetooth based, GSM-GPS based, Semi-automatic and Fully-automatic. The product offers extensive customization options based on product and operator requirements. This product will enhance last mile connectivity, reduce travel time and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The product has the potential to promote entrepreneurship where the rental/sharing system can be deployed using our cloud-based services with limited technical knowhow.”

City Future Research group (www.arp.iitkgp.ac.in/cfl) of the Architecture & Regional Planning at IIT Kharagpur has also present PUBBS Transit v2.0, India’s first Integrated Planning and Operation Software for Bus Transit Operators. This software can be used for building solutions synonymous to current manual practices of depot and route level bus operations and management, with the advantages of artificial intelligence, information technology, and data visualization (https://youtu.be/IsiD1oovee8).

Highlights:

The software is designed to reduce the operation cost of all buses for each trip for each route from each terminal while improving passenger comfort.
System is flexible to work on various levels of ITS infrastructure (On board driver console, CCTV cameras within buses and bus stops and APC modules within buses).
Real time bus dispatch and control system for operators at terminals.
The software features include frequency setting, timetable development, bus scheduling, crew rostering etc.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, SRIC Project Code: UBA (“An intelligent urban bus transit dispatch, control and surveillance system using artificial intelligence and user perception”). The theory development, algorithms, python programs and the software interfaces are all developed by the students, project staff and interns who have worked on this project over the last 3-4 years. Th detail capabilities of the program are listed in the website. (Website: www.pubbs.co.in)

Link for Live demonstration:

https://youtu.be/WP7afvqxSWE

Media Coverage:

Times of India	Telegraph	News 18 Bangla
Economic Times	Statesman	Republic World
Economic Times (Auto)	The Print	The Week
Bizz Bizz	India.Com	Tech Expert

Dainik Jagran

Inputs by: Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Department of Architecture & Regional Planning IIT Kharagpur
Email: debapratim@arp.iitkgp.ac.in

Edited By: Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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IIT Kharagpur ranked 1st in Agriculture & Civil Engineering in India in the 13th QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP) ranked 1^st in Agriculture Forestry and Civil & Structural Engineering in India, according to the latest edition of the world’s highest QS World University Ranking by Subject for the year 2023. The Institution’s strongest field Engineering & Technology ranked at 82^nd with an overall score of 76.7 among all the universities globally and 4^th in India, as per the 13^th QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2023 announced on 23^rd March 2023.

In India, IIT KGP ranked 1^st in Agriculture & Forestry along with Civil & Structural Engineering. Domestically, the Institute overall ranked 2^nd in Architecture & Built Environment, Material Science, Environmental Sciences, Accounting & Finance, Economics & Ergonomics. Core areas of the premier institute including Computer Science & Information Systems, Mineral & Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical & Electronics, Earth & Marine Science and Statistical & Operational Research held 3^rd position in all over India.

Globally, the institute ranked 74^th in 2023 compared to 80^th rank in 2022 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering; 94^th in 2023 compared to 109^th in 2022 in Computer Science & Information Systems & 106^thrank in 2023, improving its rank from 118^th in 2022 in Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering.

Speaking on the QS Rankings by Subject 2023, Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “IIT Kharagpur stands out from other IITs with its multi-modal curriculum nurturing creativity, capacity building, affordable healthcare and rapid technological amalgamation. As an Institute of Eminence, we have to acquire the opportunity in digital economy space fostering skill development and encouraging entrepreneurship. The Institute is gearing up to establish bridges with ISRO and futuristic technologies with DRDO in unmanned & robotic technologies, cognitive technologies and secure systems, directed energy technologies, sensor systems and software, life support engineering and baseline technologies in materials. We are also planning to steer ahead in areas like precision agriculture, energy storage systems, hardware security, hydrogen storage, quantum communication, additive manufacturing, 3D printing & composite manufacturing.”

The institute also ranked #1 in Architecture & Regional Planning (ARP) in Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF) 2022.

Media Coverage:

Times of India	Telegraph	Economic Times
Financial Express	Republic World	The Print
News 18	Career 360	Krishi Jagran
Free Press Journal	Times Now	Hindustan Times
Prabhat Khabar	Aaj Tak	Live Hindustan

Bartaman (Hindi) Dainik Jagran Anandabazar Patrika

Edited by : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

Follow us on: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp; Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
For news visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/

IIT Kharagpur to Incubate Agri-Food Startups to support Food Security

Shiksha Mantri to Flag-off Agri-Food Techathon at IIT Kharagpur to promote Agri and Food Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship

IIT Kharagpur in association with NABARD is organizing the first of its kind Agri-Food Techathon (AFT 2021), to promote the participation of India’s youth in innovation and entrepreneurship in different domains of the Agri-Food sector. AFT-2021 will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Shiksha Mantri Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on January 25, 2021. The foundation of the Agri-Business Incubation Centre will also be laid at the inaugural event, which will carry out the mandate to incubate innovative ideas in agriculture and food technology domain for creating Agri-preneures.

Agriculture is the largest employment vertical with a GDP share of 14%. Over the years, India has witnessed a substantial increase in yields, crop diversity due to mechanization and knowledge dissemination programmes. However, the steeping consumption due to population explosion has been a constant challenge demanding rapid progress in the agricultural sector.

Talking about the initiative Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur opined, “While India is moving at an accelerated pace towards automation and digitization, there is a crucial need to complement it with automation in the rural livelihood and farm sector and warrant uniform progress. To achieve this goal we are reaching out to the talented youth of this country through the Agri-Food Techathon. This platform will enable them to exhibit and depict their creativity, problem-solving and prototyping-skills in Agriculture and Food Technology thus leading to indigenous product development, employment generation and fulfilment of our promise to Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

The national-level online technical fest spanned over January – March 2021, will have participation from over 750 university/college students, entrepreneurs and rural youths from across the country in the age range of 20-25 years with diverse academic background. Apart from workshops, mentorship and guest talks, AFT-2021 will host a competitive B-plan submission for the participants.

Business and technology experts in areas covering farm mechanization, AIML, IoT in agriculture, precision farming, greenhouse farming, organic farming, agricultural biotechnology, soil technology and testing, food processing, packaging and storage, food supply chain management.

Renowned professional experts from countries premier institutions like IIT Kharagpur, IARI New Delhi, CIAE Bhopal and Founders / CEOs of different successful agri-food tech startups like Sickle Foundation, Sfarms India, Fasal, Nutrigreen, Organic Farming, Cropin, B2V, Keyhti, Khadyam, Crofarm, WAycool, Villa Mart, etc. are taking part in the Sensitization Workshop of the AFT-2021.

More than 30 teams with high potential will be selected for formal association with ABIC, IIT Kharagpur. They will be offered assistance in the form of Technology and Business Development Mentorship, R&D support, Laboratory / Workshop / Pilot Plant access and Funding Opportunities through potential Investors / Accelerators. Business and technology experts from key domains of Agriculture and Food Technology will be involved as panellists and mentors.

The event is being organized by Agricultural & Food Engineering Department, Centre for Rural Development & Innovative Sustainable Technologies and Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship in association with NABARD.

Prof. H N Mishra, Professor-in-Charge of the Agri Business Incubation Centre (ABIC), remarked, “At our Centre, we will facilitate the incubated startups to develop low-cost technologies and transfer them for sustainable development of rural communities. We shall further conduct hands-on training, workshops, and seminars for capacity building of farmers and unemployed rural youth.”

Special emphasis will be given through action-oriented research to promote climate-resilient agriculture in vulnerable districts, agricultural value chains, promote farmers’ collectives, value addition, market-linkage, and risk management; also offering expert advisory services, policy advocacy including building up of human capital in rural areas.

For more information on AFT 2021 and ABIC, please visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/agri-food-techathon-aft-2021/

STEP towards Innovation Drive

IIT Kharagpur has been among the firsts to build industrial parks within an academic setup, in the country. While the Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park (STEP) was set up within and in the vicinity of the IIT Kharagpur campus, a Research Park has also been built in Kolkata to set up industrial laboratories involving researchers from IIT Kharagpur. STEP is aimed at encouraging and nurturing students to launch their startups through incubation facilities.

Recently Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur in the context of mobile application development by Indian companies, has been vocal about start-up ecosystem in technical institutions. While keeping his faith on STEP IIT Kharagpur he can lead the initiative through seed funding and incubation facility.

Prof. Siddhartha Das, the newly appointed Managing Director of Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park, shares his insights regarding STEP towards this end.

How STEP has been providing incubation support to startups?

The Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park at IIT Kharagpur sprawls over 20,000 sq.ft. of incubation space which is made available to startups for incubation. While fully constructed laboratory facilities are available, mobile laboratories for conducting experiments have been developed too. Further the Park is equipped with conference space for brainstorming and collaboration.

Apart from space for R&D and operations, STEP performs few critical functions which are essential for startups:

i) Seed Funding

ii) Intellectual Property and other techno-legal requirements

iii) Business operations Advisory

i) Seed Funding – Seed funding is one of the most important aspects of a start-up and for a company incubated at STEP, the following seed loans are provided: (a) Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Seed Loan, (b) Technology Incubation and Entrepreneurship Training Society (TIETS) Seed Loan, (c) Technology Development Board (TDB) Seed Loan and (d) Technology Incubation & Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) Seed Loan.

The seed loan amount ranges from ₹ 2 – 25 Lakh per start-up depending on the budget for the technology commercialization and business operations.

ii) Intellectual Property and Techno-legal requirements – Offering support in acquiring intellectual property rights is another important function of STEP. The unit collaborates with the law school of IIT Kharagpur, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, towards conducting seminars and workshops round the year and educating entrepreneurs in techno-legal matters. Further, the IPR office of the Institute facilitates filing of IP and registration.

iii) Marketing and Business Operations – Now, probably the most important part of a business is marketing because that is what introduces the product to the world. STEP has been seeking expertise from one of the top most business schools in India as ranked by MHRD’s NIRF – Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSOM). Not only its presence on the campus, but VGSOM is known for its innovative practices, focus on research and industrial consultancy, educational outreach, which make it just the right partner for STEP to enrich the marketing experience of the startups incubated at the Park. The faculty experts from VGSOM conduct lectures, seminars and discussion forums to train startups towards managing business operations efficiently and marketing of the products developed by them.

Who can apply for incubating their startup ideas under STEP?

A key factor for STEP is its inclusiveness. The unit is open to any technology-based start-up with the legal status to register and operate in India irrespective of whether they are associated with the Institute or not. It enables STEP to not only invite the 750+ faculty or 60000+ alumni worldwide or the current students, but also any Indian with the ambition to innovate new technologies. Furthermore, STEP is in the process of starting collaboration with MSMEs across the eastern region for entrepreneurship development. To promote technical advisory and networking it is also collaborating with various chambers of commerce and capital rich industries.

Will there be any special drive for developing mobile applications?

Our Director Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari has affirmed that the incubation facilities at various technical institutions in India are capable of leading such drives. STEP IIT Kharagpur, indeed can emerge as a beacon because of our existing system of incubation through infrastructure, operational support and seed funding. STEP can boast of a decent record in terms of incubation. The total no. of companies incubated till date are 200 out of which 183 companies have graduated and 17 are being mentored.

In the current situation, it is quite important that useful mobile applications and services are designed and operated in India. The Director has already mentioned planning for a drive to call for submission of proposals for mobile application development which can be sponsored by the Institute. If the technologies developed are market worthy or for the B2B industry, then STEP would certainly step into the process to incubate them into startups for future use by India.

IIT Kharagpur’s Online Course on Innovation & Entrepreneurship

IIT Kharagpur launches Online Lecture Series on Innovation & Entrepreneurship dealing with several crucial aspects in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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IIT Kharagpur’s Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship (RMSoEE) is all set to start a virtual lecture series titled “Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Post-COVID World”. The program which will be conducted as a sixteen-part lecture series on the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), aims to present a broader and unique perspective on opportunities on forward-looking fronts like data science, healthcare, education, agri-tech, energy, rural innovation, fintech, and supply chain interventions among several others. While doing so, the course also intends to throw light on precautions and strategies related to operations, execution, change in consumer behavior, and short term financial management.

Starting with motivation, challenges, and opportunities unleashed by the pandemic, the course goes on to delve into innovative approaches to frugal product engineering, lean and cost-effective business modeling strategies and smart financial management, that are highly pertinent to startups in the present scenario. The opening sessions shall set the stage by elaborating upon the macroeconomic impacts of COVID-19 and expound on the significance of innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors to address the related challenges.

Young college students who are startup enthusiasts, working professionals, entrepreneurs, innovators, thinkers, strategists, and makers from all walks of life, will find the lectures useful in restrategizing their stance in the new-normal world.

This series will be conducted from 22nd to 29th June through the NPTEL platform and would also be accessible on other platforms of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India such as broadcast on SWAYAM Prabha channels, course materials and videos on National Digital Library of India. Dr. Mrigank Sharad of RMSoEE will be coordinating the course. The speakers, among others, include: Prof. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti – Role of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Technology to fight the pandemic and its repercussions; Prof. Manoj Kumar Tewari, Director, NITIE Mumbai – The drastic transformation of Supply Chain Network in the post-COVID world, its opportunities and challenges, adaptability; Dr. Kris Singh, Founder & CEO at SRII, California – Innovating education and skills for digital economy.

Download Programme Details

Register Now

Please fill out this form to register for the course and get a course certificate. At the end of the course, an online MCQ test will be held and certificate will be provided to all who score more than 50%, along with good (50% to 65%), very good (65% to 75%) and excellent grades (>75%). Along with this, we are also conducting a Business Pitch competition, where the participant will need to submit a startup idea in a specified format. Selected ideas will be rewarded certificates and may be given opportunities to work with our school for further support, mentorship, incubation etc., depending upon your interest. Note that the links for the course lectures will be active only at the scheduled time of the lecture.

Click Here

Contacts:

Project Information: Prof. Mrigank Sharad, mrigank@see.iitkgp.ac.in

Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in;

Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

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Alumni Innovate COVID-19 Health Technologies

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The cases of infections and deaths related to COVID-19 in India are increasing by leaps and bounds. While it took about 2 months to reach the first 1000 cases, it increased to 2000 just within 5 days, then with every 3 days the count has been increasing by 1000, and now the frequency of that occurrence has reduced to a day. Today the COVID+ cases have crossed 8000. Though experts concur that the lockdown has checked the spread of the disease till now to a considerable extent, the need for eHealth technologies is crucial in a country with a billion+ people under home quarantine. Four alumni starts-ups from IIT Kharagpur have developed technologies to offer assistance towards surveillance, mass-scale sanitization and automatization of dissemination of official information related to novel coronavirus.

Surveillance

Innovaccer, a data-driven healthcare technology start-up co-founded by Abhinav Shashank and Kanav Hasija from 2010 batch, has has launched a self-assessment based app to screen for COVID-19 patients. The self-assessment test asks users to fill in a survey based on their symptoms. It also provides coronavirus-related updates to citizens in the region.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a serious challenge to current healthcare infrastructure. While our providers are tirelessly treating thousands of patients every day, we want to help them in this global health crisis by expanding their reach. To help the government, healthcare organizations and all frontline healthcare workers care as one, we are launching COVID-19 Management System to enable virtual care,” says Abhinav Shashank, CEO of Innovaccer.

Health authorities of Goa and Puducherry have tied up with Innovaccer to curb the spread of novel CoronaVirus pandemic with the Automated Self-evaluation Assessment to Identify At-Risk Patients for COVID-19.

In another such initiative, Intugine, co-founded by IIT Kharagpur alumni Harshit Shrivastava (2016 batch) and Ayush Agrawal (2018 batch), is using their flagship product ‘Mobile Number Location Tracking’ to monitor huge number of home-quarantined individuals and ensure they follow social distancing. The Kgpians claim that their location intelligence platform, which is based on cell triangulation technology, can work on SMS-based user content without installing any application, i.e. even on basic phones, which makes it easy to implement.

The company has recently announced that this solution can enable effective crowd monitoring of quarantined cases in a least intrusive and scalable manner, on a single dashboard with a central control tower, reducing the pressure on the ground teams to visit each location and ensure adherence.

“Our logistics platform fits seamlessly in providing a solution to the coronavirus monitoring. Upon understanding it better, we quickly tweaked our platform by conducting a pilot in a handful of districts to check the feasibility,” says Ayush Agrawal.

He confirmed getting positive response as well in detecting the breaches of home quarantined cases and reaching out to appropriate authorities who can put the platform to use for surveillance.

Mass-scale Sanitisation and Sterilization

While surveillance of the population is critical, a significant section of the population engaged in essential services are required to regularly access public spaces. Alumnus Debayan Saha collaboratively developed Airlens Minus Corona, a device which may help sanitise large areas. The innovators claim that the product might be able to address the challenge by using charged water droplets which are ionised using the viral discharge.

“Alcohols (like ethanol or IPA) are known to inactivate viruses by denaturing their protein coat. But the alcohol-based hand sanitiser is useful for individuals or for sanitising surfaces at a smaller scale (home, offices, etc.) in the fight against coronavirus. However, this is insufficient in such an emergency as it is impractical to use alcohol for sanitising cities,” said Saha.

The device is designed to look like Robo Sapien (human-like) machine that operates on the mechanism of charged water droplets which are ionised using the corona discharge. The ionised water in return oxidises the viral protein reducing it to a non-harmful molecule, opined the innovators. The innovators are hoping to reach out to organisations and government bodies for large scale application.

Bot

While media is reporting on health status, government announcements related to COVID-19, people may have queries regarding the lifestyle to follow beyond social distancing and hygiene guidelines. Apollonius Voicebot developed by alumnus Souva Majumder is addressing such queries. People can record their queries on the platform denguebot.in which are answered by an AI application. The bot has integrated information provided by the World Health Organization, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, and My Gov platform.

COVID-19 has reaffirmed the need for technology based hygiene and healthcare, which may not fade away with the situation normalising but rather lead to a future which cause less damage from pandemic, which may not require global lockdown.

This article only shares information about technological innovations by the alumni and is neither an endorsement nor can be used as a statement of validation for the above mentioned interventions.

If you are alumni, faculty or student of IIT Kharagpur and working in the following areas, please share your story on media@iitkgp.ac.in.

Personal protective equipment,
Surveillance,
Sanitization,
Testing kit,
Development of medical equipment, bots,
Pharmacological or non-pharmacological treatment,
Data analytics and AI to model epidemic patterns and disease dynamics