Three alumni of the College of Engineering, Pune have set up their own company, despite getting job offers worth Rs 9 to 10 lacks per annum.
Sarang Kamble, 23, Pratik Deshmukh, 23, and Amol Gulhane, 24, started their own company ‘Robolab’ which sets up robotic laboratories across colleges in India.
As only 10 to 15 colleges in India have separate robotics laboratory, the group decided to start a company which provides basic equipments for interested colleges. “We thought over business ideas related to robotics because it is a growing field in the country. There are many colleges in India which do not have a proper robotics lab; they use old equipments and theories which discourage students to opt for robotics and automation,” explained Gulhane.
The company sets up a full-fledged lab which enables 45 students to work on different projects at a time. “In our lab, we have three sections; electronics, mechanical and pneumatics. The software is installed in laptops/desktops, as per the college requirement. The total cost of investment is around Rs 15 lacks. Resources provided are sufficient to last for minimum of two years,” said Gulhane.
“The outdated syllabus and books used for robotics is also a reason for students failing to go for this subject. Sometimes the college faculty has less knowledge on the equipments in the labs. We provide training to the faculty and students after the installation of the lab and provide with five model robots for help,” said Gulhane. The trio has set up such labs in two engineering colleges; one in Hyderabad and the other in Punjab. Currently they have ongoing projects in Pune, Jharkhand and Ghaziabad.
The trio learnt the basics of entrepreneurship with the help of Anil Sahasrabudhe, CoEP Director and city-based industrialists Sanjay Inamdar and Narendra Kale. The trio have decided to operate from Pune, despite being from different cities.
