Projects planned with MSMEs to solve real-life issues

Dayananda Yumlembam | TNN

Ahmedabad: Beginning this summer, students of various institutes of Gujarat Technological University (GTU) will not only work on real industrial problems for their academic projects but also get credit for their innovative work.

GTU has made arrangements for students to visit the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state, point out real-life problems faced by them and innovate solutions as part of their academic projects. While the new regulation is applicable to students of all disciplines, including engineering, polytechnic, pharmacy, MBA, MCA and so on, students will get two credits each for the project in the first semester. The students will also be entitled for four credits each for following up with these projects in the consecutive semesters.

The initiative will be handled by the university’s recently-formed GTU Innovation Council along with Techpedia, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and various Gujarat Industrial Development Corporations in the state.

Varsity's vice-chancellor Akshai Aggarwal said, “The idea is to rekindle innovation among the young minds, encourage them and make them the agents of change. The initiative is necessary not only in the state but in the country as there is a disconnect between the academic institutes and industries.”

Aggarwal added that while this gives students a chance to understand and apply their minds to solve real-life issues, the MSMEs get much-needed solutions to their product or process-related problems.

Under the new system, every institute under GTU has set up an innovation club. GTU will also setting up 25 clusters called sankuls which will act as an interface between the industry and the educational institutes. These clusters will link around 2.5 lakh students to 34,500 MSMEs with a total of around 10,000 teachers guiding the students.

Rewarding best ideas

Ahmedabad: GTU students will not only score marks for devising solutions for the industry defined problems but those who have done a good job would be rewarded in various ways. ‘Techpedia’, an initiative under Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), a city-based NGO headed by IIM-A professor Anil Gupta, will help selected innovators to register Intellectual property rights (IPR) for their ideas or products. Managing director of Techpedia, Hiranmay Mahanta said, “We will help select 100 ideas in this process. GTU and Techpedia will also hand out other awards to the deserving students.”

While GTU estimates a total of around 40,000 projects to be attempted by students, the university will select 1,000 best projects and support them to be taken to the product format stage.
Affordable solutions for grassroots issues

Techpedia will identify problems faced by people of Panchmahal and Dangs and an array of social problems of the most backward communities in the country which can be solved through the intervention of technology. Around 50 such problems will be presented to students as part of GTU Innovative Council’s project. Managing director of Techpedia, Hiranmay Mahanta, said, “Various issues of the backward classes are unattended. We want to address these issues that could be solved through techniques of water harvesting, solar power, among others. ” TNN