At the Centre for Innovation (CFI) of IIT Madras, a plethora of futuristic innovations were showcased at an open house event on Sunday, March 12. Among them were an electricity-powered Formula One race car, a solar-powered electric vehicle and a drone designed to aid afforestation in hard-to-reach areas. Over 70 tech projects were displayed, spanning diverse fields such as 3D Printing, astronomy, AI/ML, drones and autonomous vehicles, which attracted numerous visitors who were intrigued by the possibilities of the future, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti inaugurated the event and said, "For any country to become a technology superpower, it should excel in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation. IIT-M is committed to this effort through the Centre for Innovation (CFI). CFI open-house comprised several demonstrations by our students on innovative ideas that could translate into a product of great societal importance," as reported by The New Indian Express.
The annual open house at CFI offers a distinctive platform for students to exhibit their work to industry professionals, potential collaborators, investors and even alumni. Prabhu Rajagopal, Faculty Advisor, CFI-IIT-M, said, "CFI has become the burgeoning fulcrum of innovation activities at this institute, tackling problems ranging from water logging in the city and safe conduct of elections to space exploration, electric and mass mobility." This year marked the first occasion of the open house being held at the Sudha and Shankar Innovation Hub, which was inaugurated by Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar in the recent past, as reported by The New Indian Express.