The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) is mentoring school students of Andhra Pradesh to be future innovators and critical thinkers.

It is hosting a three-day workshop from November 30 as part of INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) initiative, executed by Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, and National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF).

The initiative aims to motivate students in the age group of 10-15 years to think critically. A total 37 students from Andhra Pradesh, mostly from government schools, were selected for their ideas based on novelty, social applicability, how environment-friendly and user-friendly they are.

The workshop is being coordinated by Dr. Mudrika Khandelwal, Assistant Professor and Dr. Ranjith Ramadurai, Associate Professor, at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad.

Speaking about the importance of this initiative, Dr. Mudrika Khandelwal and Dr. Ranjith Ramadurai said, “It is important to tap the creativity at early stages of life when they are open and fearless. We are sure this will be a great platform to bring out talent.”

The scheme’s objective is to select, support and reward one million original ideas/innovations rooted in science and its real-life applications, to be able to foster a culture of creativity and innovative thinking among schoolchildren.

Prof. Deepak John Mathew and Dr. Neelkantan from the Dept. of Design, spoke about the importance of design. Dr. P. Rajalakshmi from Wireless Networks (WiNeT) Laboratory, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, gave a demonstration on drones.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Sangareddy – November 30th, 2018