The students from Centre For Innovation (CFI) at IIT Madras will demonstrate some of their cutting-edge technologies and innovations to the public on Saturday, November 2, 2019, during CFI Open House 2019. The event is an annual flagship event showcasing the recent work and achievements of student innovators, as well as providing an opportunity for their projects to be displayed on a large scale, leading to implementation. It provides a platform for students to network with potential mentors and facilitators in the field of technology and entrepreneurship. Almost a decade since its inception, CFI is now home to ten clubs and four competition teams with over 600 students being involved in projects that have won international acclaim.

Speaking about importance of CFI, Prof M.S. Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras, said, “If one is wondering where all those ideas of start-ups that the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about when he visited the IIT Madras Research Park recently came from it is from the students that buzz around in CFI, immersed with their hands and minds. If there is an occasion to witness the germinating source of all those that happen at start-ups and beyond, it is the CFI Open House.”

An autonomous vehicle designed by CFI Team Abhiyaan, which will be showcased during the event 

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.

“This year, there will be an exhibit of projects from our 10 clubs which have bagged honours in various competitions as well as projects mentored by the ICSR. There will also be exhibits from the 4 internationally-acclaimed competition teams - Team Abhiyaan which works on intelligent ground vehicle, Team Avishkar which works on hyperloop pod (the 5th mode of transport), team Anveshak which built the Mars rover of IIT Madras along with the Raftar (formula racing) team,” said Akash Anandan, Student Executive Head, CFI, IIT Madras.

CFI Avishkar hyperloop team with their Pod, which will also be showcased 

What are some major attractions (interesting innovations) to look out for at the event? “Autonomous driving in a simulated environment, agricopter, computer vision for traffic management, power exoskeleton and IoT for air quality management are some of the top exhibits this year,” he added.