IIT Madras will open the door to its Centre For Innovation (CFI) for public during CFI Open House 2019. The event which will be held on November 2, 2019 (Saturday) will see participation from students who would demonstrate some cutting-edge technologies and innovations. The event will be open to public from 4 pm to 7 pm.
Those interested in visiting the event can register on the link provided on CFI website, 'cfi-iitm.com'.
The CFI Open House is an annual event where student innovators showcase their recent work and achievements. The open house also provides the opportunity to display projects on a large scale, leading to implementation. It is also an opportunity for students to network with potential mentors and facilitators in the field of technology and entrepreneurship.
Prof. M.S. Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras, said that CFI is the hub where students brainstorm ideas.
"CFI has become an important hub for many students to wet their hands and cook their ideas. And, therefore, if there is an occasion to witness the germinating source of all those that happen at startups and beyond, it is the CFI Open House," he said.
A student-run platform, CFI was set up with a vision to encourage engineers to apply knowledge from their academic pursuits to 'innovate' and propose solutions to real-world problems. It serves as a creative hub, encouraging peer learning and providing a platform for ideas to manifest with the support of resources, workspace and mentoring.
Prof. Satyanarayanan Seshadri, Faculty Advisor, CFI and Nirmaan, IIT Madras, said, "CFI has grown from strength to strength and has done so organically after taking roots with an alumni grant. Having proven their mettle with world-class compatriots, CFI is ready for the next level and we invite you to witness future in the making. Originally a maker space, with the vision to enable any student walk in with an idea and walk out with a project, CFI is now joined by Nirmaan (India's only Student pre-incubation on campus) to enable teams wishing to explore entrepreneurship with their projects. The CFI-Nirmaan tagline now becomes 'walk in with an idea and walk out with a start-up'."
Almost a decade since its inception, CFI is now home to ten clubs and four competition teams with over 600 students being involved in activities over the year. The comprehensive inventory and workspace at CFI acquired and maintained over the years uniquely facilitates these teams and clubs to rapidly design and implement their ideas. Many CFI Teams have won international acclaim for their innovation.
Speaking about one of the competition teams, Prof Asokan Thondiyath, Faculty Advisor, Team Anveshak, CFI, IIT Madras, said, "Team Anveshak has been consistently improving their performance in the international competition in the last few years and we hope to make it to the top 5 teams this year. CFI open house gives the team an opportunity to showcase their talent and preparedness towards this goal."
It is not the only achievement by one of the CFI teams. Team Avishkar Hyperloop from CFI was the only Team from Asia to be among the 22 teams, shortlisted from over 1,600 entries that qualified for the final round of the 2019 Hyperloop Pod Competition organized by SpaceX on July 21, 2019 at their Headquarters in Los Angeles, California in July 2019. The team also met Mr. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
Another team, Team Raftar Formula Racing, emerged as the Overall Static winner, Design Event winner and Cost Event runner-up in Formula Student Germany competition. Team Abhiyaan secured Second place overall in the Intelligence Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) 2019 at Oakland University. Team Anveshak secured 12th position in University Rover Challenge 2019 in Utah. Team Smart Agricopter and Team Eye in the Sky were shortlisted among the top ten teams in India Innovation Growth Program 2.0 and will receive funding for their projects.
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