Receives 1500 ideas on smart cities from over 10,500 students across India, for its innovation contest, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union HRD Minister to grace KPIT Sparkle 2017 Finale as the Guest of Honor; Grand finale which will see 35 top teams present prototypes of their solutions on Smart Cities
KPIT Technologies announced that KPIT Sparkle 2017—an annual national design and development innovation contest—received 1,500 ideas from over 10,500 engineering and science students across 300 colleges in India. Top 35 shortlisted teams will exhibit their solutions through working prototypes at the grand finale, scheduled on 18th and 19th February 2017, at the Deccan College Ground in Pune.
The winners of this contest would be finalized by a panel of eminent jurors and announced at an award ceremony on 19th February, 2017, where cash prizes of over INR 20 Lakhs will be awarded to them. Union Minister for HRD affairs, Shri Prakash Javadekar is the Guest of Honor and will be presiding the event along with his delegation. Padmashree Dr. Kiran Karnik, Former President, NASSCOM will be the chief guest. On 18th February, KPIT will be hosting a panel discussion on theme “New Era of Engineering Education” which will begin with keynote speech by Dr Ashok Shettar, and feature key industrialists and academicians in the panel. There will also be sessions by eminent speakers Dr. Alberto Sangiovanni, Technologist & Professor from University of California Berkley and Dr. Klaus Bickle, Former Senior Executive at Audi AG.
KPIT Sparkle 2017, in association with College of Engineering, Pune aims at fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking among engineering and science students across colleges in India. This year’s theme was Smart Cities and revolved around creating solutions for Smart Transportation and Smart Infrastructure. On display, at the event, would be some interesting and novel projects in the areas of smart electric vehicles and self-learning bots, clean and efficient fuels enhanced with nanotechnology, solutions to recover and clean oil spills, coherent use of energy from plants, wind, solar and waste water and separation of plastics from waste.
On receiving extraordinary response for KPIT Sparkle 2017, Ravi Pandit, Co-founder, Chairman & Group CEO, KPIT said, “The Government of India’s emphasis on the Smart Cities initiative is pivotal towards development of the nation and will provide many opportunities towards creating ground-breaking solutions that solve real world issues. We are positive that these top 35 finalists selected for Sparkle 2017 will display exceptional technological acumen and scientific thinking, which are key elements for the success of the event.”
KPIT Sparkle 2017 is being organized in partnership with College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) and on learning about the list of finalists, Dr. B.B. Ahuja commented, “It is our pleasure to be associated with KPIT for Sparkle 2017. It provides a great platform for engineering and science students who are driven by a sustainable ecosystem. I look forward to see many new ideas being showcased at the event and am glad to learn that KPIT is working as a change agent towards making students industry ready.”
Eminent judges, consisting of scientists, industrialists and academicians, will evaluate the projects on the final day and announce the winners of KPIT Sparkle 2017. The selected finalists will also be invited for job and internship opportunities at KPIT. The final event will be open to public.
