IIC Regional Meet for the NWRO Zone 2023
23rd November 2023
IIC members, Dronacharya College of Engineering Gurugram attended IIC Regional Meet for the NWRO Zone, exhibit Innovations/Startups and participate in pitching session for YUKTI Innovation Challenge 2023 on 23rd November 2023 at Noida.
Faculty participants includes Prof. (Dr.) Isha Malhotra (Principal), Dr. Ashima Mehta (HoD, CSE Dept.,), Dr. Ritu Pahwa (HoD AIML Dept.), Mrs. Pooja Sharma (Assistant Professor, EEE Dept).
Student participants includes Vibhanshu Kaushik, Abhimanyu Arya, Aryan Yadav, Pratham Tiwari, Archita Jha, Aditya Gautam, Ajitesh Kumar Verma, Diya Ray, Shivam Kumar, Kishan, Lakshit Dawar, Rohan Saini, Nikhil Chauhan, Indraneel Roy, Aryan Rakheja, Sneha Pandey, Tpander Kumar, Abhishek Jha, Kushagra Singh, Utkarsh Jha, Geetanshu Bansal, Jayant, Harsh Vatsal, Prateek Kumar Singh, Shivam.
The objective of regional meet was to provide a platform for sharing I&E knowledge and best practices in HEIs , to celebrate the achievements and impact created by IIC institutions and to witness successful emergence of innovators and startup founders from Higher Education Institute (HEIs).
The meet was inaugurated by Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt of India, Dr. Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Dipan Sahu, Asst. Innovation Director, MIC, Dr. Jitender Kumar, Managing Director, BIRAC, Dr. Mamta Rani, Advisor-I, AICTE and Dr (Prof) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh.
During the inaugural session, Prof. T. G. Sitharam, said, India will become the most developed nation of the world by 2047 and during this Amrit Kaal, everyone should join hand together to take higher education to the next level and work on various transformational reforms. NEP 2020 includes excellent policies and initiatives which must be implemented in the next 25 years to make India the knowledge capital of the world, but it is not being followed. The vision for Amrit Kaal includes providing education in mother tongue so that it can reach maximum number of people. Therefore, AICTE published many books in regional languages and have also created reforms in examinations. Rote learning and writing in examinations has to change. He told, AICTE has taken a big step forward to integrate skilling into education since skill development is extremely crucial for the development of the country. India’s vision is not only to become “Aatm Nirbhar” or self-sufficient but also to become a “Vishwa Daata”, ie. a “giver”, as witnessed during the pandemic when India provided vaccines to more than 100 countries and helped them.
Sharing his views on the occasion, Mr. Dipan Sahu, (Assistant Innovation Director, Ministry of Education’s Innovation Council), said, “India is at the 40th position in the Global Innovation Index today and the day is not far when it will be at the top position in Global Innovation Index”. By 2027, 40-50% higher education institutions must have Institution Innovation Council System so that the start- up ecosystem can grow and entrepreneurship can be promoted. India’s youth must come forward and brainstorm together to develop new ideas which can fuel the growth of entrepreneurship.”
Engaging the audience effectively, Dr. Mamta Rani, Advisor-I, AICTE, said, “Excellence can only be achieved through innovation, which is based on three verticals- teaching and learning process, academia-industry relationship, and collaboration. Today, there are 111 Unicorns in India, making it the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world and through various policy initiatives, capacity building, financial support, India will become the largest start up ecosystem of the world in the next few years.”
Emphasizing upon the need for innovation, Dr. Jitender Kumar, Managing Director, BIRAC, stated, “There is a need for institutional mechanism of venture creation which can only be possible by strengthening the start-up eco system of the country.
Demonstration and Mentoring Opportunity to Innovators Nominated for the YUKTI Innovation Challenge 2023 for further training, incubation, and funding support: More than 4000 nominated innovations and startups that are part of the YUKTI Innovation Challenge 2023 got an opportunity to attend these regional meets to exhibit their innovations, get oriented by Angel and VC experts, and receive one-to-one mentoring from the panel of experts on pitching. Based on their performance in these rounds, the best innovations and startups was shortlisted for the final round of the YUKTI Innovation Challenge for a national-level startup boot camp. Deserving innovation and startup finalists were further supported with funding and incubation support from MoE's Innovation Cell and AICTE.
Regional meets provided a networking platform for our institution and celebrate our contribution towards institutionalizing and streamlining our campus innovation ecosystems and leading the innovation movement in institute. The regional meetings provide an excellent opportunity for IIC institutions to strengthen inter-institutional partnerships with other HEIs and ecosystem enablers such as incubators, angel investors, VCs, knowledge agencies, national resource agencies, and central and state government agencies involved in the promotion of innovation, IP, and startups in HEIs. These regional meets provide IIC institutions with opportunities to demonstrate their ecosystem achievements, alongside innovators and startups to showcase their innovations and receive mentoring and funding support. Regional meet was a one-day-long event with multiple learning tracks and engaging sessions such as demonstrations, exhibitions, creative performances, open house interactive sessions, round tables with ecosystem enablers, IIC Consortium institutions, mentoring and pitching sessions, and many more. In the regional meet, the best-performing IIC institutions, innovation ambassadors, and mentor institutions will be invited to share their knowledge and experience with others, and the best innovation and IIC poster exhibitors will be felicitated at the end of the regional meet.
Demonstration and Mentoring Opportunity to Innovators Nominated for the YUKTI Innovation Challenge 2023 for further training, incubation, and funding support: More than 4000 nominated innovations and startups that are part of the YUKTI Innovation Challenge 2023 got an opportunity to attend these regional meets to exhibit their innovations, get oriented by Angel and VC experts, and receive one-to-one mentoring from the panel of experts on pitching. Based on their performance in these rounds, the best innovations and startups will be shortlisted for the final round of the YUKTI Innovation Challenge for a national-level startup boot camp. Deserving innovation and startup finalists will be further supported with funding and incubation support from MoE's Innovation Cell and AICTE.
In the valedictory ceremony, Dronacharya College of Engineering team “Abhimanyu” won best innovation stall award in MoE's Innovation Council. The team was given trophy and certificate by Mr. Dipan Sahu, Asst. Innovation Director, MIC and Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh and President IIC – Amity University.