Monthly stipends and TI goodies: Everything you need to know about IICDC 2018

Have a start-up idea which could be the next big thing? Looking for mentorship and funds tiring you out? Look no further than the India Innovation Challenge Design Contest (IICDC) 2018. Announced by Texas Instruments (TI) and Ministry of Science and Technology, while this edition is their third, it will be the very first time that monthly stipends are on offer. “In addition to receiving start-up funding, the teams will also receive a monthly stipend of  `30,000 for each member of the start-up (up to four members) for a year,” informs Sanjay Srivastava, Director, Texas Instruments India University Programme. In a conversation, he tells us more about IICDC and what they are looking for. Excerpts: 

What according to you do students need the most while trying out their start-up idea?
Students require seed funding, technical knowledge and guidance and mentoring on marketing communication, management, customer/market research etc. IICDC provides all these and more by bringing together the best from each partnering organisations. 

From 11,000 students from 624 Indian engineering colleges participating in 2016, 15,380 students from 965 Indian engineering colleges participated in 2017

What is one of the most brilliant ideas coming out of this contest in the past editions? Especially from the tier II and III cities?
Indian Innovation Challenge and Design Contest 2016 and 2017 has witnessed many innovative ideas which are a proof that there is talent not just in key cities and prime engineering colleges but also in tier II and III cities. For instance, one of the winners of IICDC 2016 was from Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, and they developed a device that helps shrimp farmers monitor the temperature, salinity, pH level and oxygen level of their shrimp farms to ensure optimum growth.

Can you shed some light on the TI tools students will have access to?
TI integrated circuits (ICs) and TI hardware development tools (EVMs/kits) required for the project are provided free of cost to teams. Each team can order TI ICs and EVMs/kits worth USD $200. Teams will also have access to TI Booster Packs. 

In the future, they want to see more participation from the North Eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir and Tier II and III cities

Any insider tips for students who want to apply for the contest?
Be creative and find an innovative solution to the problem you want to address. It is a tough contest but you will be competing with thousands of other participants and your perseverance will pay off in the end.

Ten years from now, where do you see the start-up scene in India?
India has one of the highest engineering student populations in the world. This platform gives a huge opportunity for all the students to see the importance and relevance of technology to solve societal issues. We strongly believe that with programmes like this, which provides all the necessary elements for students to start-up and succeed, there will be an increasing number of engineering students who will come forward and play an active role in shaping the start-up scene in our country.

For more on them, click on innovate.mygov.in