Ahmedabad: Student innovators, startups display solutions for real life problems

"We have hilly areas and it is physically challenging to ride a bicycle. So we have deviced a solar powered electrical bicycle with higher endurance," said Saurabh Banerjee, from Tatanagar in Jharkhand, who has displayed the bicycle at two-day LJ Innovation Village, that began in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Banerjee, along with Indrajit Singh and Oishi Biswas have devised the bicycle. Innovators and startups from 12 states have displayed their products at the exhibition organized as a part of the Innovation Village.

The idea behind the event was to bring startups and student innovators on same platform with mentors, investors and other actors of the startup ecosystem to take startups to the next level, said Manish Shah, president of LJ Group of Institutes. Over 330 projects have been exhibited, of which close to 200 are by students and incubatees at LJ, while rest 130 are from 15 other districts of Gujarat and 12 states.

"We have also arranged pitching sessions for startups and innovators from other districts of the state and those from other states. We hope to link them to mentors, investors and other stakeholders of the ecosystem," said Shah. Officials of Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and Nodal Institutions (NI) have also been roped in as judges, who can then enroll promising startups or innovators as their incubatees.

Hema Pradhan from Sikkim has prepared a stretcher with shock absorbers. "The terrain is hilly and uneven. Often ambulances are not available. Traditional stretchers are painful," said Hema. She hopes that her innovation sees the light of day and patients can be comfortably transported without much pain in areas with difficult terrain.

Students of Mechanical Engineering department of LJ College of Engineering has prepared a Modified Food Delivery Bike. The exhaust of the bike heats up the coils in the container. So the food remains hot, no matter what distance it has to be transported.

LJ Group of Institutes have also adapted a 'Lab – To – Market' strategy, where faculty and students develop products and market them. Its pharmacy college has developed herbal products, which will soon be marketed. Faculty of its law college has enabled a trademark for the products. Similarly, the college of Masters In Computer Application has developed softwares for a host of organizations.