Winners for innovation platform, KPIT Sparkle 2021 announced

KPIT, a global automotive software and mobility solutions players, has announced the winners of KPIT Sparkle 2021 from the shortlisted 25 entries. 

KPIT Sparkle is an annual national-level contest that cultivates a culture of innovation by inspiring students from the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) streams. The teams with 20 best ideas on transformative solutions in mobility and energy were shortlisted from over 2,500 across colleges in India.

An innovation platform, this initiative nurtures, mentors and supports aspiring entrepreneurs and connects them with incubators in the ecosystem to transform their inventive ideas into viable products.

The Winners of the 2021 contest included -

• Team Nano-Fluid from ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bangalore, won the platinum award of Rs 10 lakh for designing a portable nano-fluid-based milking pail for cooling milk after production in an environment-friendly and cost-effective manner. 
• Team 3D Printer from Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering, Pune, won the gold award of Rs 5,00,000 for designing continuous fibre 3D printing. The technology involves 3D printing of continuous carbon fibre embedded in nylon.

Two teams that won the silver prizes of Rs 2,50,000 each were-

• Team Sand Bird from Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, and KCG College of Technology, Kancheepuram, for designing a semi-autonomous electric tractor that reduces operation cost by ten times with home charging.
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• Team AI-Air Battery from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, for developing a novel electrolyte-based rechargeable Al-air battery, which increases the energy density by up to eight times and is efficient in saving more than 1 lakh tonnes of CO₂ production per year.

Most Popular Award was bagged by 

• Team Auto-Monitor from Dr D Y Patil Institute of Technology, Pune won the most popular award of Rs 1,00,000 for designing novel diagnostic system for EV-motor monitoring & automatic fault protection by AI controlled drive.

Two teams won the special jury award for the following ideas :

• Team OX-YLINDER from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur won a special award of Rs 50,000 for designing an oxygen concentrator for vehicles and ambulance, equipped with new technology.
• Team Soft.Spy from the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST), Itanagar, won a pat-on-the-back award of Rs 10,000 for designing a device that records the cause of vehicle accidents and helps the user to decide who was responsible for the accident by retrieving technical data collected during the time of the accident.

Nitin Gadkari, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog were guest of honour and chief guest, respectively, at the virtual grand finale event.

Gadkari congratulated the winners and emphasised the need for futuristic approach,  “I firmly believe that we need young engineers and creative minds to design smart and efficient transportation systems. There is a huge potential for the use of green and clean hydrogen transport in the future. Promoting alternative fuel promotion will result in economic growth and will bolster India's development. We must be futuristic in our approach and should ensure that in less than 5 years India emerges as a leader in the area of mobility and sustainable transport. My ministry is positively looking forward to the suggestions and recommendations on better mobility and energy prospects in the coming future.”

Ravi Pandit, chairman, KPIT Technologies, said, “KPIT Sparkle facilitates academia and the industry to join forces and promote innovation and entrepreneurship by empowering students with the right kind of mentorship, capability and resources. It also supports our vision of reimagining mobility with customers, partners and people by supporting talent creation in the ecosystem.”

Chief Guest, Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) added that “The initiative incentivises young talent to build solutions that will define the innovations of the future. We look forward to working closely with KPIT and its partners in nurturing and building start-ups that can emerge from the projects."

This contest is aimed at encouraging students to identify and solve sustainability-related real-life problems using technology. It also encourages and facilitates students to secure intellectual property for their solutions.