National Institute of Technology - Trichy (NIT-T) has selected 25 aspiring entrepreneurs from in and around the city for a special six-week training programme which began on the campus on October 15. The programme is spurred by the realisation that there is a lack of technology-based entrepreneurial ventures in Trichy.
The ‘Technology-Based Entrepreneurship Development Programme (TEDP)’ will go on till November 24. The organisers told TOI that three domains – electronics, communication and information technology – would be covered during the course of the six weeks. Specific training would be provided to enable them to come up with a start-up based in Trichy.
Experts said that though Trichy had a considerable number of people with good entrepreneurial skills, they often fell short and failed to make a mark in their business as they didn't have enough knowledge to connect their ventures efficiently with technology. “People here have the knack for business, but they only haven’t mastered technology yet. In fact, a handful of candidates who we’ve chosen are those who failed in their first business ventures as they couldn’t understand and implement technology in their respective businesses,” N Sivakumaran, TEDP programme coordinator and a faculty member at NIT-T, told TOI.
REC/NIT Trichy Alumni Association (RECAL) conducted the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in NIT Trichy on Saturday, September 8th 2018. Mr. M. Krishna Sai, RECAL President, welcomed the gathering and gave brief overviews of RECAL Association and RECAL Foundation and it activities. Mr. Krishna Sai mentioned that the construction of the RECAL Middle School in the Campus was the first major initiative taken up by RECAL at a cost of Rs. 65 Lakhs. He also mentioned that the IoT (Internet of Things) Lab and the SCIEnT (Student Centre for Innovation in Engineering and Technology) Lab were setup by the Alumni for the benefit of the students. Through the RECAL Foundation 69 Scholarships worth Rs. 17.96 Lakhs were disbursed to the students during the last academic year. Mr. M. Manikandan, RECAL Secretary presented the Activities Report for 2017-18. The highlights were: •RECAL Chapters in Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy, USA (East Coast & Bay Area), Delhi, Architecture had conducted their Chapter meetings in 2017-18. Formation/Renewal of new RECAL chapters were initiated in Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Hyderabad, UAE & Singapore. •Prof S.K.Ramesh 1981 ECE Alumnus graced the Inauguration Function of IEEE Students Branch of NIT Trichy as the chief guest on 25th May 2018. He also signed a MoU on behalf of EPICS PURDUE USA, IEEE. •Solar Plant (10 KW) was donated by the 1980 Batch of Alumni to the Institute on 13th July 2018 to power up the Administrative Block. •7 Distinguished Alumni Awards and 1 Young Achiever Award were given away during Convocation 2018 held on July 28th 2018. •Swami Nirmalananda (YNS Bhasker Babu, 1993 Batch MME) visited Campus on 9th August 2018. He handled a session on “Art of Living” as a part of the First Year Orientation program. •RECAL gave the best team trophies for the Institute events like Festember, NITTFEST & PRAGYAN. RECAL presented 50 Silver Medallions and one Overall Outstanding Student Award during Institute Day 2018 held on April 17th 2018. The election for the RECAL Office Bearers for 2018-2020 was conducted and the following Alumni have been selected: Mr M. Krishna Sai, 1990 ECE, President Mr M. Manikandan, 2008 MBA, Secretary Dr Parthiban, 2000 M.Tech Industrial Engg, Treasurer Mr P N Subramanian, 1977 Mech, Vice President Mr C J Kosalraman, 1996 Architecture, Vice President Ms Padmapriya, 2015 M.Tech CSE, Joint Secretary Dr S Jaya Nirmala, 2017 Ph.D CSE, Joint Secretary The notable resolutions that were taken for adoption were: •Having Alumni attend the AGM through Video Conferencing and also cast their votes electronically. •To create a Not for Profit Organization in USA for administering the Chapter Activities in USA and also to raise funds for the various activities of the RECAL Foundation. •Plan for a Global Alumni Meet (GAM) of NIT, Trichy at Chennai on January 4th 2020. The GAM is expected to have 1000 Alumni present from across the globe with a focus on Entrepreneurship Development, Start Ups and recognizing eminent Alumni for their contributions to academia, entrepreneurship and corporate. •The RECAL Association audited accounts for 2017-18 were passed and the Budget for 2018-19 was approved. Dr. Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, NIT Trichy addressed the AGM and requested RECAL to form more Chapters across the globe and talked in detail about AIIC (Alumni Institute Interactive Cell) that has been formed and is already functioning to complement the activities of RECAL and also to reach out the Corporates for channelling their CSR activities. Dr. Mini Thomas said “NIT Trichy is very fortunate to have leading luminaries as its alumni and is very keen to utilize their passion to give back to the college”. Dr. Mini Thomas also mentioned about the support provided by the Students for the Kerala Relief Efforts by sending 500 electricity distribution boards to Kerala since many houses have lost wiring and electrical components. Dr. Mini Thomas also made a request to RECAL to support the Kerala relief efforts by augmenting more funds for the Kerala Relief Efforts. The trustees of the RECAL Foundation also decided to donate Rs. 1 Lakh towards providing the electricity distribution boards for Kerala Flood Victims. It was also decided that the RECAL will do a fund raising campaign amongst Alumni to raise more funds for Kerala relief efforts. The AGM ended with M. Manikandan proposing the Vote of Thanks. RECAL AGM report published in NIT-T website: https://www.nitt.edu/home/students/events/press/RECAL-AGM.pdf
Young innovators from across the country converged at the National Institute of Technology Tiruchi (NITT) on Monday for the Smart India Hardware Hackathon 2018 (SIHH-2018) on the theme of ‘Value from waste.’
The national-level grand finale of the five-day event at NITT, one of the 10 nodal centres across the country to host the Hackathon, will witness six teams drawn from Nagpur, Coimbatore, Pune, Hyderabad, Udaipur and Chittoor, slogging round-the-clock to come up with working prototypes.
Their projects will be evaluated by panel of experts from institutions and industry.
The participating teams at the 10 nodal centres would provide solutions to the challenges of a digital world, said Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, inaugurating the event through video-conferencing from New Delhi. Having missed the industrial revolution, India cannot afford to miss the digital and artificial intelligence revolution, he said.
The HRD Minister termed the Hardware Edition of Hackathon 2018 the largest inter-institutional competition from which the next Google or Texla-like idea will emerge.
India stands 60th in the world innovation index and counts on its creative innovators to break into the top 25 nations by 2023, he added.
Partha P. Chakrabarti, Director, IIT, Kharagpur and Chairman of Hackathon, 2018; Anand Deshpande, Chairman of Persistent Systems; Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE; and R. Subramanyam, Secretary, MHRD, also addressed the participants.
Earlier, during the formal inauguration of the event locally at the Institute, Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, said the topic of Hackathon 2018 syncs well with Tiruchi where, she said, the City Corporation has executed waste management projects successfully through public-private partnership.
N. Ravichandran, Commissioner, Trichy City Corporation explained how the Supreme Court ruling that made waste management a mandatory responsibility of every citizen has helped in raising awareness.
Mr. Ravichandran listed projects under execution for generating biogas from waste and degradation of plastic materials that not only generated revenue but also brought relief from pollution to residents.
Six teams from different parts of the country, with different project ideas, will exhibit their prototype working models which will be evaluated by panel of experts from institutions and industry.
Among the notable projects are ‘Automatic drainage cleaning system’ by Team Logistic; smart drainage cleaning system by Team Electrical Levellers; self-powered biogas plant with solar tracking by Team Lokmanya; design and fabrication of garbage picker machine by Team The Gladiators; smart washbasin by Team Water Cops; and marble slurry and waste plastic brick by Team Slick.
All the projects were focussed towards furthering the Centre’s Swachh Bharat initiative.
National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tata Motors Ltd. for the introduction of innovative programs in education and research. Taking their first steps towards a long journey of technological collaboration, both entities will be working in areas of mutual interest, with an aim to meet the future engineering needs of the academia and industry.
The MoU envisages joint R&D projects over a period of five years for the development of new technologies in various engineering domains. The MoU was inked in the presence of Dr. Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, NIT Trichy and Mr. Gajendra Chandel, Chief Human Resource Officer, Tata Motors Ltd. The main objective of this MOU is to promote interaction between NIT Trichy and Tata Motors in mutually beneficial areas and to provide a formal basis for initiating interaction between NIT Trichy and Tata Motors.
Speaking on this occasion, Professor Dr Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, NIT Trichy, said, “We are excited about partnering with Tata Motors to collaborate in pioneering engineering technology for mobility. This association will enable joint research in key areas, which will find a place in the future products of Tata Motors, as well as allow for advanced training of students to get hands-on experience in the current projects of Tata Motors. The exposure would also help the faculty and students to orient themselves towards the latest practices of the Automobile industry and hone their skills in accordance with the evolving requirements of the industry. We see the program as an opportunity for us to develop a talent pool among the students of NIT-Trichy, that would have the edge over others in terms of acquisition of advanced knowledge and be industry-ready.”
Speaking on this association, Mr. Gajendra Chandel, Chief Human Resources Officer, Tata Motors, said, “The automotive industry in India is continuously evolving with a rapid shift towards emerging technologies such as digital, big data, AI, AR, VR etc. which means taking connected vehicles, electric vehicles and driverless vehicles from just concept ideas to mainstream reality. In conjunction with the changing market dynamics, we understand the need to articulate a clear roadmap for incubating a talented, competent, and innovative workforce. Through this MoU, we intend to have a multi-dimensional partnership with NIT-Trichy, which will help us bolster our competitive edge and develop next-gen engineering skills, not only within the company but also that of our academic partners with proficient faculty, in line with our vision & mission to create a future-ready organization.”He further added, “This partnership will help us bridge the gap between academic excellence and business requirements, to create an industry-ready workforce. This initiative also supports the Government’s ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’ and ‘Startup India’ program, preparing the Indian industry to compete at a global platform.”
About NIT Trichy:
National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, commonly referred to as NIT -Trichy, is an Institution of National Importance under Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, established to provide instruction and research in various branches of engineering and technology for the advancement of learning and dissemination of knowledge in such branches. NIT Trichy is ranked the best among NITs and runs 10 undergraduate and 28 postgraduate and Ph D programs. NIT Trichy excels in teaching, research and consultancy, supported by eminent Faculty, successful alumni, industry partners and world-class Infrastructure catering to more than 6500 students
About Tata Motors
Tata Motors Limited (BSE: TATAMOTORS), a USD 42 billion organisation, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, buses, trucks and defence vehicles. Part of the USD 100 billion Tata group, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia through a strong global network of 76 subsidiary and associate companies, including Jaguar Land Rover in the UK and Tata Daewoo in South Korea. With a focus on engineering and tech-enabled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, Tata Motors is India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and among the top in passenger vehicles with 9 million vehicles on Indian roads. The company’s innovation efforts are focused on developing auto technologies that are sustainable as well as suited to evolving market demands. With design and R&D centres located in India, the UK, Italy and Korea, Tata Motors strives to pioneer new products that fire the imagination of GenNext customers. Internationally, Tata cars, buses, and trucks are sold in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS, and Russia.
Photo Details: The signing of the MoU by Dr.Mini Shaji Thomas,
Director, NIT Trichy and Mr.Gajendra Chandel, Chief Human Resource
Officer, Tata Motors Ltd.
K.Alagesan is the Director Production in Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) Ltd.,Bangalore which is also the first public sector Unit of independent India.He has been a Director of the company since 29/01/2016 and has now been entrusted with additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director with effect from 01.06.2018.
Mr K.Alagesan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Production Engineering from REC,Trichy (NIT,Trichy).He also holds Diploma in Advanced Management and Diploma in Human Resource Management from IGNOU,New Delhi.
He has over 36 years of experience in various fields of Production and Project managements in ITI.He,along with the outgoing Chairman and Managing Director,Sri S Gopu,spearheaded the company to report a record profit of Rs 102 Crore for the last financial year 2017-18,which is a record by itself, as the company is showing profit after a gap of sixteen years.
He is the recipient of the performance awards from then CMD,Director(Production) and Unit head of Bangalore Plant for his outstanding contributions. He has received distinguished Alumni award from NIT,Trichy in April 2016.
Prof.Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, NIT Tiruchirappalli congratulated him for his appointment.