IIT Madras to host third edition of 'IInvenTIV' research expo from Feb 28-Mar 1

New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI) Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras will host 'IInvenTiv 2025', a national expo that will showcase the cutting-edge research of leading tech institutes in the country from February 28 to March 1, officials said on Thursday.
     The expo will be inaugurated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and will feature Research and Development Projects from all the IITs, NITs, IISc and IISERs as well as top government and private engineering institutes that rank within the top 50 in NIRF ranking.
     "The primary objective is to increase awareness among industry of these technological breakthroughs and achieve better industry-academia collaboration. The highlight of this year is that a larger number of exhibits from participating institutions (around 300) will be featured in an expo, with a good representation from startups that have been initiated based on the R&D from these institutions," IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti said.
     "Special emphasis would be placed on technologies in mature TRL (Technology Readiness Level) stages 7–9, which are ready for commercialisation and can be transferred to the industry during the event itself," he added.
     IInvenTiv is a flagship event of the Ministry of Education.
     "This year, we have a lot more institutions taking part, including private institutions. This two-day event is to showcase the inventions and creativity of the institutions. We expect a lot of investors and large industries to take part in this event, which will facilitate industry-academia collaboration," he said.
     The thematic areas that would be covered include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies, Aviation, Defence and Space, Marine Technology, Medical or Healthcare Engineering, Rural Technology, Smart Cities and Infrastructure, Advanced Manufacturing and Circularity and Sustainability (Energy and E-mobility).
     IInvenTiv was started in 2022 as an event held at IIT Delhi featuring R&D only from the IITs. The second edition of the event with participating institutions from top 50 of NIRF, apart from IITs, NITs, IISc and IISERs, was held at IIT Hyderabad in January 2024.
     "A 'Chintan Shivir' or brainstorming session will be organised for each thematic area, featuring leading experts from government, industry, academia, and start-ups, with each session featuring a lead talk followed by a discussion on what is the current R&D focus and industry need; a rapporteur from each session will be responsible for drafting an outcome paper that will be presented at the closing of the event," the institute said in a statement.
     "The focus in these discussions would be on the specific needs of the industry and how academic institutions can gear their research efforts to meet these requirements. The role of government and start-ups will add to the discussion," it added.
     A coffee table book on leading technological innovations from Indian higher education institutions, which have led to great impacts on the industry, will be released during the event.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)