TEJAS 2K25, the second edition of an Engineering Expo featuring 223 students’ inventions, innovative concepts, ideas, and social impact projects/products by Anurag University Engineering Students, concluded Monday night at Anurag University in the city outskirts.
TEJAS 2K25 is a unique project was organised for the second time to kindle an innovation culture among engineering students at the University
It was inaugurated by Dr S. Glory Swarupa, Director General Ni MSME, Govt of India; Dr Shanta Toutam, Former Chief Innovation Officer of Govt of Telangana, Mr. Arjun Kumar Rumalla, Director and Manufacturing, Country Head of TechnipFMC in the presence of Ms Neelima, CEO, Dr Archana Mantri, Vice Chancellor, Dr Vijay Kumar, Dean of School of Engineering, Prof UB Desai, Chancellor of Anurag University; Balaji Utla, Vice Chairman, Neelima Institute and Neelima Hospitals.
Tejas 2K25 received overwhelming applications of 600 of which 223 inventions, innovations, and novel concepts were shortlisted and exhibited in the one-day Engineering Inventions Expo at Anurag University located in the city outskirts.
Giving opening remarks, Dr Vijay Kumar said the first edition held last year saw 160 inventions, of which 30 were applied for patents, and nine are likely to be awarded patents. A couple of Venture Capitalists have shown interest in scaling up of a couple of ideas into a startup.
About 1600 students from the 30-plus Government Schools such as Narapally Govt School 80 Korremula Govt School; Green Fields School; Sri Chaitanya; Shantiniketan; Ghatkesar Govt School Girls; Edulabad Govt School; Delhi Public School; Annojiguda Govt School and others visited the expo and inspected the innovations.
Highlights of some of the products on display include “Live Safe”, an automated power cut-off system for electrical hazards prevention during large public gatherings. Giving more details, Greshmi Ratna one of the team members of the four-member team that worked on the project said, that whenever a human being comes in contact with a live wire in social gatherings like Maha Kumbh mela, crowded places like Pushpa film like a stampede, the system they developed detects it automatically and disconnects the power supply and prevents electrical fires
Parking is the next big problem that most urban dwellers will encounter. The problem will be so much so that it is said whenever 3rd world war breaks it will be over water. Similarly, the biggest fight that takes place on city roads and in apartments in Hyderabad today is over Parking. A movie titled ‘Parking’, a family drama aired over the OTT platform revolves around the clash between a youngster and an elderly tenant regarding their parking space. Parking is going to be the next big urban problem that needs to be addressed. The smart parking system developed using Arduino Uno (a series of Open Source Microcontroller Boards) by the students will help locate free parking slots, and help people park properly, the students SK Syed Pasha, M. Nitesh Reddy, B. Sanjay Kumar, P. Akhil.
The other interesting innovation was the Solar Powered Smart Bin which automatically separates dry and wet waste. Prevents bad odour from coming out. Indicates when it is full. Get’s closed automatically. Another innovation was Smart Refrigerator which lets you know its contents on your mobile phone so that you know what to refill while shopping on your way back from work, added that students
Speaking on the occasion Dr Glory Swarupa, Director General of Ni-MSME, Govt of India said mere development of Apps and software doesn’t solve problems. India is a land of problems and opportunities. We need field-level problems to be identified and solved. I am happy to note that there is good enthusiasm in the hall.
Further, she added that the Ni-MSME Ministry has a scheme called “The MSME Innovative Scheme” MSME to promote innovation in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The scheme combines incubation, design, and intellectual property rights (IPR) to help MSMEs develop ideas into viable business opportunities. It offers a grant of 15 to 25 lakhs for a good idea or innovation. She urged students to utilise this opportunity.
The startup world is full of terminologies such as Unicorn, Minicorn etc. It is good to become a Unicorn, the valuation of which in Indian Rupees is one followed by nine zeroes. It takes 10 years to become a unicorn. So we must encourage startups to first become Babycorn companies with a valuation of about Rs ten lakhs and then they can go for Minicorn, Soonicorn and Unicorn.
Dr Balaji Utla, the brain behind Tejas 2K25 said we must make engineering MLJP which stands for “Meaning, Learning, Joy, and Pride”. Anurag University is committed to Problem-Based teaching. Prof UB Desai, Chancellor of the University said the culture of innovative thinking must be cultivated from the very first year of Engineering and he urged students to be lifetime learners.
A Panel Discussion on the Innovation Landscape of India was moderated by Dr Archanan Mantri on the occasion. Participating in the discussion one of the panelists Arjun Rumalla said, innovation is innovation. Any innovation is good as long as it is out-of-the-box thinking. Dr Shanta Toutam, another panelist said frugal innovation is good. Any frugal innovations help economically consumers, manufacturers and Mother Earth. Dr Glory Swarupa said the real-time problem needs solutions and we must focus accordingly. Submitted by Solus Media
