NITs, IISERs, IISc Bengaluru to be featured at this year's IINvenTiv research expo: IIT Madras Director

The third edition of IINvenTiv, a national research and development expo, will feature projects not just from IITs but also NITs, IISc Bengaluru and IISERs this time, according to IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti.

The expo scheduled from Feb 28 to March 1 is being hosted by IIT Madras.

It will be inaugurated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, with special emphasis on technologies in mature Technology Readiness Level (TRL) stages, which are ready for commercialization and can be transferred to the industry during the event itself.

"This time IINvenTiv will feature research and development projects from all the IITs, NITs, IISc and IISERs besides top government and private engineering institutes that rank within the top 50 in NIRF. The primary objective is to increase awareness among industry of these technological breakthroughs and achieve better industry-academia collaboration," Kamakoti told PTI.

"Over 300 exhibits from participating institutions will be featured at the with a good representation from startups that have been initiated based on the R&D from these institutions. Special emphasis would be placed on technologies in mature TRL stages which are ready for commercialization and can be transferred to the industry during the event itself," he added.

IInvenTiv is a flagship event of the Ministry of Education, which was first held in 2022 at IIT Delhi feature exhibits only from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The second edition of the event with participating institutions from top 50 of NIRF, apart from IITs, NITs, IISc and IISERs, was held at IIT Hyderabad last year.

The highlights of the third edition include release of a coffee table book on leading technological innovations from Indian higher education institutions and a "chintan shivir".

"A Chintan Shivir or brainstorming session will be organized for each thematic area, featuring leading experts from government, industry, academia and start-ups, with each session featuring a lead talk followed by a discussion on what is the current research and development, focus and industry need; a rapporteur from each session will be responsible for drafting an outcome paper that will be presented at the closing of the event," Kamakoti said.

"The focus in these discussions would be on the specific needs of the industry and how academic institutions can gear their research efforts to meet these requirements. The role of government and start-ups will add to the discussion," he said.

The thematic areas that would be covered include Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies; Aviation, Defense and Space, Marine Technology; Medical and Healthcare Engineering; Rural Technology; Smart Cities and Infrastructure; Advanced Manufacturing (Industry 4. and 5.0) and Circularity and Sustainability (Energy and E-mobility).

A coffee table book on leading technological innovations from Indian higher education institutions, which have led to great impacts on the industry, will be released during the event.

(PTI)