The results of the Surathkal Innovation Challenge are out!
Team MySlate won the competition.They developed a low cost computing device, based on android, focused on micro-finance at grass roots operators.
Team MySlate won the competition.They developed a low cost computing device, based on android, focused on micro-finance at grass roots operators.
Surathkal Innovation Challenge
SIC is a joint initiative of the faculty, alumni and students of NITK aimed at encouraging innovation. There are no restrictions based on discipline, all we need are ideas with a potential of being morphed into commercially viable technology-based enterprises. The grand finale of the inaugural edition of the Surathkal Innovation Challenge was held on Sunday, 7th March 2010.
The Finale - Part One
The finale was a two part program, the first half being a closed room presentation judged by Dr. Kumar Shiralagi, Managing Director of NEA-IndoUS Ventures (KREC alumnus of Electronics and Communication Engineering, batch of 1984) and Mr. Iqbal Mohammad, Founder, Semnox Solutions (KREC alumnus of Computer Engineering, from the batch of 1993). This was held in the Applied Mechanics Seminar Hall. The four finalist teams, namely Exam Crunch, Energineers, MySlate and Reader4Blind gave a detailed presentation of their business plans to the judges. Each team was allowed to give their presentations for a duration of 20 minutes.
Followed by a 20 minute time slot for questions. Based on the presentation of the Business plans, the idea and overall feasibility and viability of the ventures the winner was decided by the judges. After all the presentations, a short interaction session was held between the participants and the judges.
The Finale - Part Two
The second half of the program was a open house presentation of the ideas of each of the teams. This was held at the ATB Seminar Hall at 4:30 pm. It was attended by Mr. Iqbal Mohammad, and Mr. Prashant Kaddi (KREC alumnus of Computer Engineering batch of 1999) from NEST (NITK Entrepreneurs and Startups Team) as well as faculty from the college. It had an audience of roughly 200 students.
The main idea of the program was to spread awareness among the faculty and students about the Surathkal Innovation Challenge, in order to have a greater participation from the college in the coming years. The event started with a brief introduction to the SIC, followed
by a presentation by Mr. Prashant Kaddi about NEST and its relation to SIC and a hope to collaborate with SIC in the future.
Next, a presentation was made by Chirag Heda, Campus Co-ordinator, SIC outlining the progress so far. This was followed by the presentations of the four finalist teams. Then, Mr. Iqbal Mohammad gave spoke a few encouraging words regarding the spirit of innovation. This was followed by the declaration of the winners. A feedback form was circulated amongst the audience to get their opinion on the Surathkal Innovation Challenge. This was followed by a vote of thanks and the conclusion of the program.
Gallery - Photos of the event
Testimonials
“The organisers were very courteous, co operative and well organised. They did a superb job.”
“The quality of ideas and presentation were generally good but few were not up to the mark. I think this can be improved over time by setting better standards, setting expectations and giving clear guidance and mentoring.”
Mr. Kumar Shiralagi,
MD, NEA-IndoUS Ventures
Judge, SIC
“I am very glad to see that entrepreneurship through innovation mindset is put to seed this early in the life of our engineers. There have been many excellent ideas and the enthusiasm of all the participants speaks for itself the value and potential of this initiative.”
“Wishing you luck and hope there is much more participation in the years to come.”