Pitch and Win Contest by IdeaMIC: Lauding Idea and Innovation
IdeaMIC, a student-led community under the Home of Leaders, an initiative of the Directorate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, organised another successful Pitch & Win event on Tuesday, 31 January 2023. The main purpose of the programme is to encourage the student community to come up and pitch their ideas.
Anand, a student of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, was among the top performers and received an additional cash prize of Rs. 5,000, along with a medal for proposing the best #idea of the month. Students Lokesh SatyaSai and Suhruth Ram secured the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively. All participants who came up with innovative ideas received praise and invaluable feedback from the experts, along with a certificate of appreciation.
Discourses on Accelerating Startups Across the Country
Delegates from across India and other countries participated in the First steering committee meeting held at SRM University-AP to accelerate startups in the country. The Chairperson of the committee, Prof. Manoj K Arora, Vice Chancellor of SRM AP, spearheaded the discussion in designing a blueprint to stir up the startup ecosystem of the university and Andhra Pradesh. Mr Udayan Bakshi, CEO of Hatchlab Research Centre and Associate Director of the Directorate of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, SRM AP, hosted the meeting.
Shri Anil Tentu, CEO of AP Innovation Society, also graced the occasion with his brilliant insights into technology transfer. He also shared his thoughts on implementing COEs in cutting-edge technologies across the state to make Andhra Pradesh the leader in startups in the country.
Notable industry leaders who participated in the meeting were Shri Purushottam Kaushik, Head, Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum India; Dr Dinesh Dua, Chairman CII North India Committee on LifeSciences; Shri. Sameer Babbar, Principal Mentor SVB Group Melbourne; Prof. Yatindra Nath Singh, Chairman CEMMC, IIT Kanpur; Prof. Deepak Pandit, Chair Profession- Innovation and Entrepreneurship, BML Munjal University; Shri Sanjiv Bhavnani, Founder of Mentorpreneur & Infotecniques; Shri. Rakesh Sharma, Advisor TERI; and Prof. V K Nangia, Policy maker and Professor of excellence for many institutes. Deans, professors, and researchers from SRM AP also participated in the meeting, bringing the best practices and methods to accelerate the startups in the country.
Reshaping the world: Dr M Mallikarjuna Rao Establishes Novel Start-up Venture
SRM University-AP manifests a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups with high potential from our ingenious students and faculty. The most recent faculty-led venture accomplishment was by Dr M Mallikarjuna Rao, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics who has established his very own start-up enterprise, Shakti Photon Solutions Pvt Ltd. The Hatchlab Research Centre and the Directorate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship had imparted unrelenting support to Dr Rao in materialising his inventive idea into actuality.
Shakti Photon Solutions Pvt. Ltd aims to develop Indigenous electrolysers for Green Hydrogen, Green Ammonia and CO2 recycling, Design and implement MW scale Agri PV, Industrial solar parks and Intercommunication of scientific experimental research stations. The venture has successfully completed the prototype phase and is ready for commercialisation and production.
Kudos to our faculty champions for their effort and dedication to great ventures with huge potential and for inspiring budding entrepreneurs to achieve success!
- Published in Departmental News, Faculty Achievements, IDEA NEWS, News
Workshop on Sustainable Development at SRM University-AP
Sauri, the woman leadership and entrepreneurship student community of SRM University-AP, in association with the Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation conducted a Workshop on Sustainable Development on March 01, 2023 to promote an insightful discourse on SDGs and develop strategies advocating green development. The workshop was an ideal platform facilitating knowledge and insight into the challenges on formulating a development plan that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Student presentations on the problem statements regarding Sustainable development were a major highlight of the workshop.
The Chief Guest of the workshop Mrs Ramya Krishna Burisetty gave a brief description and a presentation regarding her startup venture and sustainable development. She also gave a comprehensive overview on her journey, background work, ideology behind her startup, ways to build start-ups and the technology of fortifying foods. Being a women entrepreneur, she also motivated students by providing them with guidelines for the funding sources available for women entrepreneurs.
The workshop was attended by 350+ students from various colleges. Students from VVIT, VIT-AP, VR Siddhartha Engineering College, NRI Institute Of Technology and KL University actively participated in multiple activities organised as part of the workshop. A quiz was conducted as well as presentations based on their ideas on the given problem statements. Mr Dinesh and team from VVIT bagged the first prize and Ms Sindhuja from SRM AP took home the second prize in the quiz competition. The third prize was awarded to two teams, Mr Eeshwar from NRIIT and Ms Ridhi from SRM AP. The students gained knowledge about how to build a startup keeping in mind the goals of Sustainable development. The top five participants with high scores and accuracy were also awarded with deserving prizes.
- Published in Departmental News, IDEA NEWS, IDEA Workshop, News, Workshop
Inculcating Social Awareness
Saurvi and Indigo, Student-led communities of Directorate of Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship had conducted a visit on April 19, 2023 to Vasavya Mahila Mandali (VMM) Vijayawada. Vasavya Mahila Mandali(VMM) is a non-profitable and renowned women organization working to transform the lives of women and children since its inception.The NGO has taken part in various activities and is known for its passion and commitment in building a society with happy families and human values.
Students of SRM University-AP visited the NGO as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The student-led communities are well-known for promoting leadership and entrepreneurial skills amongst the members and so, the visit proved to be highly motivating. The visit was an initiative by the Directorate to inculcate a sense of awareness and accountability amongst the students. 35 students along with faculty visited the NGO, and interacted with women entrepreneurs. They witnessed the tireless efforts that the social entrepreneurs make to better the lives of others. Interaction with the lesser privileged inhabitants at VMM was an eye-opening experience. Not only did the students learn of societal iniquity, but they also learnt of innovative solutions to these evils.
Students also got to learn about the workings of the startup ecosystem. The students also took a tour of the various centers inside the NGO. The visit to the center provided the students a better understanding of societal problems and helped them expand their horizons.
- Published in Departmental News, IDEA NEWS, News
EEE students venture into Entrepreneurship
HatchLab Research Centre, SRM University-AP aims at facilitating a conducive atmosphere where all types of businesses can grow and prosper especially in a socially backward place. Hatchlab has helped in developing multiple projects, but here’s a unique venture by fourth year
Electrical and Electronics Engineering students, Gopichand and Avinash.
Whilst the rest of their batch mates are awaiting lucrative offers from top-tech companies, this duo has decided to venture into Entrepreneurship. Gopichand and Avinash, despite societal pressure, have decided to live their dreams and co-founded Virxon Private Limited. These final year engineering students have developed an AI-based digital platform that would enable schools to post job openings for teachers, along with fully automated ERP and learning solutions for students. After surveying around 400+ schools. Virxon found that, there is a huge gap in the demand and supply which can be automated through AI tools and provide a complete solution which is missing in the market right now.
Thrilled about their decision of swimming against the tide to choose a rather difficult path, these entrepreneur duo said -“It may appear that we might be slogging for 18 hours, and stay awake till 2 am in the morning, balancing our studies and our aspirations, but that is not the case. Our dreams keep us awake and our goals keep us going. We are definitely going to make a difference in society.”
Currently, the students are being mentored on the business model and the marketing strategies by Mr. Jayaprakash Narayan, from HatchLab Research Centre, SRM University- AP.
- Published in Departmental News, EEE NEWS, IDEA NEWS, News, Students Achievements
Product Kraft Cohort 1.0 Rallies an Innovative Culture among Students
Product Kraft, a student-led community in association with Hatchlab Research Centre had conducted its first extensive workshop titled Product Kraft Cohort 1.0 of a series of workshops on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in SRM University-AP. The workshop was marshalled under the direction of CEO of Hatchlab Research Centre, Mr Udayan Bakshi, in collaboration with SRM AP E-Cell and industrial partner Mr Baradwaj Avarapalli, co-founder of AB TechVille.
As the demand for professionals skilled in AI/ML and IoT continues to grow, the collaboration between Product Kraft and AB TechVille is poised to significantly impact the participants’ future careers. By providing a comprehensive learning experience and industry exposure, this workshop series aimed to empower participants to take on the challenges and opportunities presented by the ever-evolving technological landscape
The workshops covered a wide range of topics related to AI/ML and IoT, and also provided a platform for participants to network and engage with like-minded individuals, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
The workshop ended with a “Pitch and Win” contest, where jury members Srikanth Talluri, one of the top 100 Education Leaders and Innovator of Shanmukha 6D model and Sirisha Kasinadhuni, Founder & Director of AI Practices and Empiezo IT solutions evaluated the ideas and the prototype products of the participants. Based on their evaluation, startup ideas such as- Helugu, Oxygen Leakage Detection and Algo Trading Bot were awarded the first three prizes and appreciation medals. Selected startup ideas were endorsed under the HatchLab Research Center through an Elon fellowship to help the students transform their vision into reality through expert mentors present in SRM University-AP.
- Published in IDEA NEWS, IDEA Workshop, News, Workshop
SRM University-AP Signs MoU with DBS Bank, India
Hatchlab Research Centre, a technology and livelihood incubator, under The Directorate of Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship has accomplished a milestone achievement as it joined forces with DBS Bank, India. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two parties in order to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the varsity. The collaboration aims to empower startups and offer incredible opportunities for our entrepreneurial community at SRM University-AP.
Senior Vice Presidents, Mr Sushant Shetty and Mr Rama Rao Peri, other senior members of the leadership team from DBS Bank India, Prof. Manoj K Arora, Vice Chancellor, SRM University-AP ; Dr R Premkumar, Registrar, SRM University-AP and Mr Udayan Bakshi, Associate Director – Entrepreneurship and the leadership team of Hatchlab Research Centre graced the occasion.
- Published in Departmental News, IDEA NEWS, MoU, News
MoU with APIS Opens Doorway to Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
It is a moment of immense pride for SRM University-AP and its entrepreneurial affiliate, the HatchLab Research Centre as they sign an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS).
HatchLab Research Centre is an innovation and start-up incubator of SRMAP, while APIS is a State Nodal Agency that promotes the growth of innovation, entrepreneurship, and the startup ecosystem in the state. The MoU signed by the two organisations will significantly impact innovations and benefit hundreds of individuals. Also, through this collaboration, the varsity aims to cultivate an environment that nurtures creativity, fosters entrepreneurship, encourages innovative thinking, and drives tangible results. The combined expertise and vision of APIS and HatchLab Research Centre will undoubtedly lead to groundbreaking advancements in various fields, pushing boundaries, unlocking new possibilities, and making a lasting difference.
- Published in Departmental News, IDEA NEWS, MoU, News