Shortlisted finalists from engineering colleges and technological institutes across India showcase innovative, high-impact solutions to address transportation and energy challenges
Pune, March 23, 2015: KPIT, a global technology company specializing in product engineering and IT consulting, has announced the winners of Sparkle 2015, a national design and development innovation contest, in association with College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP). The contest was aimed at fostering the culture of innovation among engineering and technology students by inviting breakthrough ideas to address ongoing challenges in the areas of transportation and energy.
The contest received 424 varied ideas from over 1100 students from more than 114 colleges across 17 states of India. In the final round, the shortlisted teams presented ‘proof of concepts’ of their solutions for global issues, from unconventional power generation and hybrid solutions to intelligent transport systems and driver safety.
Their ideas were reviewed by a jury comprising eminent figures from the field of science and technology including Dr. RA Mashelkar, Head, Innovation Council, KPIT; Dr. Anil Datar, General Director, DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organization); Arun Firodia, Chairman, Kinetic Group; Prof. Mathai Joseph, former Executive Director at the Tata Research Development and Design Centre, Pune; Dr. Ashish Lele, Polymer Science and Engineering Division, NCL (National Chemical Laboratory); Satish Gokhale, founder of Design Directions Pvt. Ltd.; Alok Mukherjee, Head of Robotics at R&DE (Engineers), Pune and Dr. Sahasrabudhe, Director of COEP. The finalists were evaluated for novelty, utility, and inventiveness of the ideas at a grand exhibition held at KPIT’s campus in Hinjewadi.
Jainendra Mishra from Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur, Karnataka won the grand prize of Rs. 10 lakh for his innovation in automotive. He has developed a solution aimed at increasing efficiency of hybrid and electric vehicles— that run on lithium-polymer battery pack—by using a novel circuitry grid using SANDY (switching algorithm and cell dynamics).
Onkar Kulkarni and his team from College of Engineering, Pune won the gold award of Rs 5 Lakh. They had worked on creating centrally suspended cage-less differentiator for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
There were three Silver award winners — MKSSS’s Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune and B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli, Karnataka (two entries) — who won cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each.
Ravi Pandit, Co-founder, Chairman & Group CEO, KPIT said, “Our heartiest congratulations to the winning teams and to all those who participated in Sparkle 2015. Every idea proves that today’s youth has enormous potential to find feasible solutions for many of our existing energy and mobility challenges that matter. We at KPIT strongly believe in nurturing innovation and sparking creative ideas that benefit society. Sparkle 2015 has enabled students to realize their scientific and technology acumen.”
Dr. RA Mashelkar, Head, Innovation Council, KPIT said, “Sparkle is a brilliant effort to draw engineering talent from students across the country and provide a platform where they can compete and demonstrate their talent. I am impressed with the ideas that the contestants have come up with. The ideas are novel, pertinent and more importantly, solving problems that needed to be solved rather than what can be solved. There was extra-ordinary and creative thinking behind some of the solutions, while many of the ideas are commercially viable and game changing. I congratulate the winners and wish to tell them that this is a thousand mile journey, where we have taken the first few steps.”
Prof. MS Ananth from IIT Mumbai was the chief guest at the awards ceremony.
