Bangalore : KPIT ,a global technology company specializing in product engineering and IT consulting, has announced the winners of Sparkle 2015, a national design and development innovation contest, in association with College of Engineering, Pune (COEP). Jainendra Mishra from Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur, Karnataka won the grand prize (Platinum award) of INR 10 lakhs for his innovation.  He developed a solution that was aimed at increasing efficiency of hybrid and electric vehicles, which run on lithium-polymer battery pack, by using a novel circuitry grid using SANDY (Switching algorithm ANd cell DYnamics) algorithm.

The contest was aimed at fostering the culture of innovation among science and engineering students by inviting breakthrough ideas to address ongoing challenges in the areas of transportation and energy.

The contest received 424 varied ideas from over 1100 students from more than 114 colleges across 17 states of India. In the final round, the shortlisted teams presented ‘proof of concept’ of their solutions for global issues, from unconventional power generation and hybrid solutions to intelligent transport systems and driver safety.

The team of Suraj Aru, Shubham Gajabhiye, Tejas Auti, Harshal Nikam, and Pravin Jadhav from College of Engineering, Pune won the Gold award of INR 5 Lakhs. They had worked on creating centrally suspended cage-less differentiator for automotive sector.

There were three Silver award winning teams —  Shruti Kharwandikar and Kruti Patel from MKSSS’s Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune; the team of Ajay Kandgal and Vivekanand Kulkarni; as well as the team of Sourabh Alagundagi, Rajat Bapuri, Sumitra Malagi from B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli, Karnataka.  Each team won cash prize of INR 1 lakh.

Ravi Pandit, Co-founder, Chairman & Group CEO, KPIT said, “Our heartiest congratulations to the winning teams and to all those who participated in Sparkle 2015. Every idea proves that today’s youth has enormous potential to find feasible solutions for many of our existing energy and mobility challenges that matter. We at KPIT strongly believe in nurturing innovation and sparking creative ideas that benefit society. Sparkle 2015 has enabled students to realize their scientific and technology acumen.”

Dr. RA Mashelkar, Head, Innovation Council, KPIT said, “Sparkle is a brilliant effort to draw engineering talent from students across the country and provide a platform where they can compete and demonstrate their talent. I am impressed with the ideas that the contestants have come up with. The ideas are novel, pertinent and more importantly, solving problems that needed to be solved rather than what can be solved.  There was extra-ordinary and creative thinking behind some of the solutions, while many of the ideas are commercially viable and game changing. I congratulate the winners and wish to tell them that this is a thousand mile journey, where we have taken the first few steps.”

Prof. MS Ananth from IIT Mumbai was the chief guest at the awards ceremony.

The ideas were reviewed and judged by a jury comprising eminent figures from the field of science and technology including Dr. RA Mashelkar, Head, Innovation Council, KPIT; Shri. Anil Datar, General Director, DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organization); Shri Arun Firodia, Chairman, Kinetic Group; Prof. Mathai Joseph, former Executive Director at the Tata Research Development and Design Centre, Pune; Dr. Ashish Lele, Polymer Science and Engineering Division, NCL (National Chemical Laboratory); Shri Satish Gokhale, founder of Design Directions Pvt. Ltd.;  Shri Alok Mukherjee, Head of Robotics  at R&D E (Engineers), Pune and Dr. Sahasrabudhe, Director of COEP. The finalists were evaluated for novelty, utility, and inventiveness of their ideas at a grand exhibition held at KPIT’s campus in Hinjewadi.