Mumbai, 06 February 2018: KPIT Technologies, a global technology company specializing in IT consulting and product engineering, announced today that 30 teams from engineering and technology institutes from across India are shortlisted to compete in the finals of its annual national design and development innovation contest, KPIT Sparkle. It aims at fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking among students to solve real-world problems in socially-relevant sectors.
The KPIT Sparkle 2018 edition, with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as its knowledge partner, invited students to develop next-generation technologies – applying artificial intelligence, new materials, and cybersecurity—to make products in the energy and transportation sectors greener, safer, and user-convenient. It received more than 12,000 registrations from more than 600 engineering and science colleges in the pre-qualification stage and shortlisted 30 of the 1,500+ teams for the finals based on the novelty, affordability, and commercial viability of their proposed ideas. KPIT Sparkle is an initiative by the company’s Innovation Council – chaired by Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, Board Member, KPIT – which focuses on the promotion of innovation both within the company and outside. International jurors consisting of eminent industry experts, technologists, academicians, and business leaders will evaluate the projects.
Ravi Pandit, Co-founder, Chairman & Group CEO, KPIT said, “India represents a fast-growing region moving towards a knowledge-based economy, propelled by technology, innovation, and a strong entrepreneurial culture. Through KPIT Sparkle, we continue to inspire the young people of the country to unearth their enormous potential in engineering, product designing, and technology to develop solutions for a more sustainable future.”
The finalists will exhibit their projects at a grand public exhibition, which will be hosted by the academic partner, Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCOE), Akurdi, Pune on 18th February 2018. They will present working prototypes, or, life-size models of their solutions for improving road safety using technologies such as drones, data analytics, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and IoT (Internet of Things) to either help prevent accidents or reduce response time during emergencies; increasing charging efficiency, energy storage, and power regeneration capacity of electric and hybrid vehicles; reducing traffic congestion with intelligent solutions to re-route vehicle movement as per the traffic conditions; simplifying toll payment through digitized systems; generating power from water to control environmental pollution; converting waste heat from kitchen stoves into electricity; economically recycling plastic waste into composite building materials; conditioning room temperature in a cost-effective and eco-friendly manner using paraffin wax; air conditioning vehicles with indirect evaporative coolers; solving the problem of massive oil spills by filtering water up to the drinkable level; providing affordable electricity and cooking fuel to villages; recycling waste tyres into oil, which can be further used to power automotive fuel, among others.
Winners will be announced at an award ceremony on 18th February 2018 and felicitated with cash prizes and certificates in the august presence of Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Dr. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Science & Technology (DST), and Mr. Harkesh Mittal Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB).
KPIT will also be hosting workshops and sessions for students on themes such as deep learning, cybersecurity, drone aviation, etc. one day prior to the finale.
