Innovation is mother of entrepreneurship: K.T. Rama Rao

Hyderabad, November 21. the first ever Festival of Innovation, Innofest kicked off here in city at IIITH/T-Hub today morning.  The full day festival was formally inaugurated by K.T. Rama Rao, Minister of IT, Govternment of Telangana, innotavtiely using technology, making drone to unveil the banner of the festval. The drone lifted up the banner of the festival unfurled. 

Speaking on the occasion, he said “sad if politicians have to live 150 years”, referring to the earlier speaker Mohan Das Pai, who said “a child born in America will live for 100years. Because of the technological advancements and improved healthcare, the longevity of life is extended. So we will see Modi and Advani living for 150 years”.

T-Hub was created to provide platform for incubation, innovation, disruption (again referring to the previous speaker), said K.T. Rama Rao.

The age old Indian inventions are not acknowledged adequately.  They were stolen by west to put it bluntly, Rama Rao informed.  There are three take a ways. History is always is written by victors.  At T-Hub we will protect your intellectual property.  Whatever you create, it is yours. 

Speaking further he added that Indians are known for their brains, prowess.  We don’t know to create something out of nothing. But, Americans are very good in creating something out of nothing. They are damn good in selling, marketing, promoting themselves well. We need to come out of our skin, present, talk, sell yourself, he told 1200 plus young innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs assembled there.

It is said ‘necessity is mother of invention. Now, innovation is now mother of entrepreneurship. This will propel India’s greatness.  He gave ‘3 Is’ Manthra—Incumbate, Innovate, Incorporate. And asked to add fourth ‘I’, that is the geniuses of ‘Indians’ to you innovation.  You are world of new age heroes. We need our own heroes here in India.  Let us all strive hard for making “Hyderabad the Startup Capital of India” , KT Rama Rao concluded his address.

Delivering Key Note address, Mohandas Pai, Angel Investor & Ex-Infosys Board Member spoke about ‘disruption’, how it was changing our lives.  Several hudred years back our artisans created products.  British disrupted our artisan system.   We built monuments with our muscle power.  Then we relayed on human power.  But, invention of steam engine 200years ago caused the biggest disruption.   Taking 200years back he said.  Suddenly we had the capacity to harness the power of the steam engine.  What 100people used to do with their muscle power was done by machines.  This gave us speed and momentum. Then he spoke about various disruptions, disruption in education. Two things he made very noteworthy. The Internet is the biggest disruption happening now. The bigger disruption that’s happening today is the Internet.” “Seven billion people living together will soon be connecting with one another via the Internet” . Three and half billion people are already connected.  Then supply chain was the great innovation if changed the way manufacturing and distribution happened in the past. Now 3 D printing is going to the biggest disruption.  You can print your house, layer by layer in three days, he said. 

Dr. Sudarshana Sastry, Vedic Scholar of SRIVT Vedic Tech, who decoded the materialistic meaning from Scriptures and developed Nano copper Oxides formula. He developed many green nano products.  He asked the gathering who was the real entrepreneur?  The one who Knows thyself - Asatoma Sadgamaya; the one who innovates thyself - Tamasoma Jyothirgamaya; Who distribute thyself  - Mrithyorma Amrithangamaya is the real entrepreneur.  Maharshis are real entrepreneurs, he said. They have contributed a lot for common good of the people, he said.  India is rich country, add your innovation and make it become ‘Vishwa guru”(leader of the world) he said.  

Prior to the inauguration there was discussion on Cutting Edge Technology, where does educational institutions find place?. Participating in the discussion, Prof. Udai B Desai, Director of IIT-H said, “seeds of innovation are always are laid in academic institutions”.  P.J. Narayanan of IIIT Hyderabad said “educational institutions have to be founders of ideas”. Dr. Ramesh Babu, a Cardiologist and who is the part of the Hyderabad for Innovation(H4I). WE work in silos.  We don’t know what others are doing.  Unless networking happens, ideas don’t flow and innovation doesn’t happen, he said. JA Chowdary said somany innovations that happened in Hyderabad have gone unnoticed.   

1200 delegates, 150 innovators, 100 makers took part in the fest.  Some of the innovations include: Smart Auto of Gayam Motor Work which runs on Electricity. This costs Rs 1.5 to 2.5 lakh depends on the type of the battery. Nearly one crore conventional autos are sold. We want to sell 10,000 smart autos in next one year. The smart auto is due for launch in January, informed Gayam Rahul and Gayam Raja, both brothers. 

MicroChef, a rice cooker which runs with remote operation by way of text message/SMS message.  The lab demo product was exhibition by St. Martin’s Engineering College, which has exhibited 7 innovations developed by their students. Two other impressive innovations include Reverse Mechanism introduced in tricycle for the benefit of physically challenged. In normal, usage, two wheelers are modified for handicapped persons. These do not have reverse gear. Which causes trouble in effective maneuvering of the vehicle.  Another one is the Bamboo Frame Bicycle.  Bamboo tensile strength is more than steel and that is illustrated on the the bicycle, which is built with bamboo frame. The cycle is in working condition. 

Azlan Mohammed Shakib and Amina Iman the engineering couple use marine life to grow vegetables.  The have exhibited how aquariums can be used grow some crops.  They combined Hydroponics(science of growing plants without soil) and Aqua Culture.  They are able to grow vegetable by providing nutrient rich watger. 

There were many innovations from students, college projects, grassroot innovations.  

Nikhil Malladi and Shahebaz Khan of Glendale School showcasing their invention, Arm of God. 15 years old, Shahebaz Khan and M. Nikhil got inspired by the superhero character, ‘Ironman’.  As a result they  developed promising product that can help the physically-challenged. The product,  ‘Arm of God’, is the prototype model is made of aluminium and is shaped like an arm. The model, aided by a piston, works on the pressure created by vacuum helping the to and fro movement of the device.

Some of the Grassroots innovations include the one ‘Laxmi Asu Machine’ developed by invented by Chintakindi Mallesharm. He sold 800 units so far.  He has invented this to reduce the physical effort of his mother Laxmi, the weaver.  It was invented out of necessity.  It is an hand winding  process called Asu is required in the traditioinal “Tie & Die” Pochampally Silk Saree Tadition.  This involves moving the hand over a space of one meter up and down 9000 times for one saree. His invention has reduced the human effort and consumption of time.

Impressive speakers were lined up for the festival These include Phanindra Sama and Sudhakar Pasupunuri, both Founders of RedBus; Mohandas Pai, Angel Investor & Ex-Infosys Board Member; Jay Pullur, Founder Pramati; Manasi Prasad, Tech/IIMB/Musician/Dancer; Mohit Saxena, Foundre of InMobi; Sashank ND, Founder of Practo; Sourabh Kaushal, Founder-Smartcircuits Innovation; Sushat Patnaik, Founder Intutive Thinkers & Scientifica Innovations Foundation and Dr. Sudarshana Sastry, SRIVT Vedic Tech and others.

Innofest was a unique event organised to celebrate Innovation. It was a platform that brought together many unsung heroes among innovators and uncovered innovations and gives them their due recognition.  Showcasing innovative products, projects and research prototypes from across a spectrum: startups, research labs, defenece, academic research, grassroots, agri innovation and college projects. There was also be boot camps held on various contemporary technologies like IoT and quadcopters. 

The event structured in a festival format, facilitated the exchange of ideas and concepts that created collaborations and inspired a new generation of innovative products.  And it  helped participants network, inspire them to be part of the innovators ecosystem and ultimately trigger innovations.

In addition to iSpirt, Hyderabad4Innovation & HyderabadHackers, Several Industrial bodies, organisations and key voluntary bodies working for developing support ecosystem like IIIT-H, T-Hub, IIT, Hysea, Hyderabad angels,  TiE,  SAHI(TEDx Hyderabad) are helping with the event.

It was held at IIIT/T-Hub . The newly inaugurated T-Hub was the perfect setting for the festival.

In the words of Sharad Sharma, the Innofest is “an event focussed on the ideation and innovative prototypes stage of a startups product journey. Seeding open ideation and Innovation is key to bringing great products into the markets”

Adds Mr. JA Chowdhary, a key driver behind Hyderabad4Innovation, “Hyderabad has a strong early stage startup movement now. H4I has been working on networking and amplifying the ecosystem with specific focus on innovation and tech products. This fest will go a long way towards this initiative”.

ts24x7 team