News Wave Waves of News
The DIC is a path to ‘Make in India. Objective is to address local issues of Himalayan Region
Navneet Kumar Gupta
Newswave @ New Delhi
IIT-R is going to establish a Design Innovation Centre (DIC), named ‘नवोन्मेष’ (Navonmesh) at a cost of Rs.10 crore. Funded by the MHRD, GOI, It will address issues of the Himalayan Region using resources available locally as well as National Priorities.
The objective is to develop innovative designs primarily to address the local issues which need low cost solutions and to nurture and advance the culture of design and innovation in the region to improve the quality of life. It will advance the culture of design and innovation in the Region to improve the quality of life
Design Innovation Centre (DIC)
Highlighting the importance of this Centre to the Himalayan Region and the country, Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, said, “I am happy that IIT Roorkee has been selected for setting up a Design Innovation Centre. We already have an ecosystem in place and I am sure our faculty members and students will take full advantage of the framework provided by DIC.”
Common Man to Laboratory Program
“The DIC aims to produce region-specific products and will support innovative proposals for product development. It has also some unique outreach programs such as COMAL (Common Man to Laboratory), under which DIC will connect with the common man, who often has innovative ideas, but usually gets deprived of proper mentoring, to takehis ideas to reality.
I am sure the Design Innovation Centre, along with the Spoke partners, will focus on the specific problems of the region which will benefitthe society,” said Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi.
The DIC has already identified several products that are going to be developed. They include:
- Crop harvester for terrains,
- Green furniture based on forest waste materials,
- Assistive device differently-abled persons.
- High yield loom design for Uttarakhand local weavers
- Lab-on-chip
- Inclusive Education Kit
The DIC will also take up Industrial Consultancy and Collaborative Activities besides conducting Workshops/Seminars and U2U (Udbhavan to Utpadan).
Speaking about the vision of this Centre, Prof Manoranjan Parida, Dean (Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy), IIT Roorkee, said, “The DIC will evolve a unique model of focusing on the development of a culture of collaborative partnership with society, industry and other stakeholders to develop state-of-the-art outcomes. Addressing the needs of differently-abled persons is among the priority areas.”
Innovation Era
Prof. Apurbba Kumar Sharma, DIC, Coordinator, said that ‘Innovation’ was the fuel for ‘New Design’ but design drove innovation. “The DIC brings in synergy of design and innovation. DIC will offer the innovative IIT community a platform to convert their ideas into products. It will create a new culture,” he added.
Prayogshala to Prayogkshetra (P2P)
Mr. Krishna Rao who just graduated (B.Tech., Production and Industrial Engineering), IIT Roorkee, said, “The P2P (Prayogshala to Prayogkshetra) initiative gives students a chance to learn and develop productsfrom the research work that they’ve done for their final year project. It is an extraordinary chance for the student community to explore the field of product development by gaining first-hand experience from the designing stage to fabrication ofthe final product.”
The DIC is a path to ‘Make in India.’ It will act as a mediator to help students and researchers go the extra mile forward and give a physical form to their ideas, help them realise how their products will perform in the market, added Mr. Krishna Rao.
The DIC will have a laboratory with selected fabrication devices and testing facilities will be developed. These include – High-end Machining Centre, Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), Chip Fabrication Facility, Simulation Facility etc.
The proposed DIC will operate in the ‘Hub and Spoke’ Model, in which IIT Roorkee will be the Hub Institute; three other premier Institutions of the region – National Institute of Technology Uttarakhand (NITUK), Indian Institute of Management Kashipur (IIM-Kashipur) and College of Technology, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUA&T), Pantnagar, shall participate as the Spokes.
