Year ends with my papers at SSRN making to the top ten

On the last working day, received news from SSRN:

Your paper, "Timing it Right with Technology Forecasting", was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for CGN: Management & Strategy Practice (Topic) and HEN: Medical Technology (Sub-Topic). As of 12/30/2010, your paper has been downloaded 27 times. You may view the abstract and download statistics at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1424885.

Your paper, "Covering Patent Infringement Risks in Technology Transfer Agreements", was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for ERPN: Commercialization (Sub-Topic), ERPN: Uncertainty (Sub-Topic) and PSN: International Trade Policy (Topic). As of 12/30/2010, your paper has been downloaded 194 times. You may view the abstract and download statistics at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1121722.

Your paper, "Corporate Innovations: Lessons from India", was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for ERPN: Other Firm (Sub-Topic) and PSN: Other Political Economy: Development (Topic). As of 12/30/2010, your paper has been downloaded 145 times. You may view the abstract and download statistics at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1087953.

Your paper, "Technology Acceptance Model for Complex Technologies in a Period of Rapid Catching-Up", was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for ERPN: High-Tech (Sub-Topic) and ERPN: Innovation (Aggregate) (Sub-Topic). As of 12/30/2010, your paper has been downloaded 279 times. You may view the abstract and download statistics at  
http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1016012.

Prof Samir K Brahmachari selected for Nayudamma award for the year 2010

This year's award goes to Prof Brahmachari, DG, CSIR and Secretary DSIR.  Presentation planned at Nayudamma Centre for Development Alternatives, Nellore on 5th January 2011. Citation about Nayudamma on IDRC web page:

The Nayudamma Technology Bank provides easy access and information to technologies supported by IDRC — technologies from the South for the South. This collection, which provides contact names for all the technologies described, is a way of sharing and updating information on technological advancements for international development. 

The technology bank has been named in honour of the late Dr Yelavarthy Nayudamma, a man who dedicated his life to demonstrating how science and technology can and should be used for human benefit. Dr. Nayudamma, who joined the IDRC Board of Governors in 1981, lost his life in the tragic Air India disaster in 1985. 

Dr Nayudamma deeply believed in the concept of "technologies for humanity" and the need to "bring modern science to bear upon the problems and needs of the rural poor." Though internationally recognized as an organic chemist, specializing in the complex polyphenol-protein interactions upon which leather manufacture is based (in 1965 he received the K.G. Naik Gold Medal for his research), Dr Nayudamma was ultimately a practical technologist. As director of the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Madras from 1958 to 1971, Dr Nayudamma
 
Dr Nayudamma's accomplishments are numerous and varied. It is out of admiration for his vision and in honour of his memory that IDRC has named this bank of technologies for development the Nayudamma Technology Bank. made important contributions to the development of India's leather industry. In 1971, he became director of the Committee on Science and Technology in Developing Countries ( COSTED ), spearheading a movement for the appropriate integration of traditional and emerging technologies. 

Encouraging Telecom Equipment manufacturing in India-TRAI seeks your views

Telecoms services is booming but the expected derived demand for telecoms equipment eludes India based firms.TRAI has brought out a consultancy paper on this and seeks views of stakeholders by 14th January 2011. Issues for consultation:

Research & Development

3.1 What should be the objective and focus of the R&D effort for 2020?

3.2 Flowing from the above, what should be the objective and focus of the R&D effort for 2015?
3.3 What is the level of ‘Indian Products’ that we should attempt to achieve at the end of 2015 and 2020?
3.4 What is the broad level of investment required for this effort?
3.5 Which Institutions, whether in the Public or private sector, are best suited to carry out this effort? And why?
3.6 What can be the linkages established with Institutions or Indians abroad? Will this reduce time delays?
3.7 What should be the role of the Government and the Industry in regard to the R&D effort? In particular, what should be the investment, if any, by the Government?
3.8 Should an R&D fund be set up? If so, how can the fund be managed effectively to meet its objectives?
3.9 What could be the fiscal incentives to be offered by the Government? Should such incentives be linked to any outcome?
Sourcing of Inputs
3.10 What are the components that can be manufactured in the country with due consideration to commercial viability?

3.11 What should be the degree of indigenous manufacture of components that we can reasonably achieve a period of 5/10 years?
3.12 What, do you think, is the feasibility of setting up of commercially viable fabricating units to manufacture chips, ICs?
3.13 Is the Duty on components currently being levied high? If so, on what components can the duty be reduced? What are the financial implications and the corresponding benefits?
3.14 Should electronic Manufacturing service companies be incentivised? If so, how?
Manufacturing of equipment
3.15 Should the concept of mandatory use of Indian products/Indian manufactured products be introduced in the Indian context? If so, can this be introduced immediately or should it be introduced at a later date? If so, by what date?
3.16 What could be the percentage to be stipulated for both these categories?
3.17 What should be, if any, the incentives to be given to individual service providers for use of Indian equipment?
3.18 Likewise, what could be the disincentives, if any, for use of imported equipment? This is compatible with international agreements?
3.19 What could be the duty structure to be imposed on imported goods?

Promoting Domestic Manufacture
3.20 Should a percentage of the Indian market be reserved for the Indian manufacturers? If so, what should be the percentage?
3.21 What, if any, could be the implications of such a step?
Setting up of Special Zones or Telecom Clusters
3.22 What, if any, are the advantages of setting up of clusters for manufacture of Telecom equipment within the country?
3.23 What is the investment required for setting up of such clusters?
3.24 How can the financing of such clusters be best done, based on international experience?
3.25 What would be the lead time required for setting up of such clusters?
3.26 What are the considerations for the location of such clusters?
Testing, Standarisation and Accreditation
3.27 What, in your opinion, would be the best agency to set up and manage such a Common facility/ies?
3.28 What would be the facilities and the level of investment required in such a facility?
3.29 How will such an investment pay for itself?

Funding/FDI
3.30 What, in your opinion is the likely requirement of Capital for companies that could take up the manufacture of telecom equipment?
3.31 What could be the best manner of facilitating availability of capital to such firms?
3.32 Would setting up of Institutions like ITRI be desirable and feasible?
Duties and Levies

3.33 What would you suggest should be the tax structure in respect of imported and indigenous manufacture of telecom equipment, keeping in view the international agreements?

To ensure that Indian Innovators views are given due consideration, Indian Innovators Association is planning to submit its views based on inputs received from innovators and start-ups. Pl send your inputs before 10th January to indiainventsathotmaildotcom

IBM Next 5 in 5 -- 2010

Robert's Rules of Innovation #2: No Risk No Innovation

Graceful Politicians - they still exist. Here is the proof

Braille Phone by Sumit Dagar

Braille Phone , creation of designer Sumit Dagar is at concept stage. He is looking for funds.Details:  http://sumitdagar.tumblr.com/#897747753

Mosquito Traps

Grooming bio-entrepreneurs in Gujarat

Gujarat is fast emerging as the favoured industrial state of the country and Gujarat based entrepreneurs are taking interest in promoting valued added enterprises.Pharma , Medical equipment and other health care solutions are opportunity areas with market accepted technologies on offer from national and international organisations.

This ten month training program for entrepreneurs is planned for launch in March at EDI, Ahmedabad with NSTEDB, GSBTM, FMC, GITCO, SkyQuest as knowledge partners.The uniqueness of the program is that entrepreneurs spend first four months on scouting/ identifying/ evaluating technologies on offer and thereafter proceed to build business plans for the technologies selected by them.

Details contact:  kmbalajee@msmefoundation.org 

Mulago Foundation- funding scalable social enterprises

Mulago is a private foundation designed and built to carry on the life work of Rainer Arnhold.Rainer, a San Francisco pediatrician, taught medicine at Mulago Hospital in Uganda, and he named his own under-the-radar charitable foundation after the hospital that he loved. After Rainer’s untimely death in 1993, his brother Henry Arnhold established the Foundation in its current form.

Low cost infant warmer Embrace is one of the projects supported by the foundation. In 2007Jane Chen, Linus Liang, Rahul Panicker, and Nag Murty, all graduate design and business students at Stanford University, developed the Embrace infant warmer, which uses an innovative phase-change material to regulate a baby’s temperature and costs less than $100 to make. It requires no electricity, has no moving parts, is portable, and is safe and intuitive to use. After graduating from Stanford, Jane, Linus, Rahul and Nag co-founded Embrace and in 2010 they launched a modified version of the infant warmer product in India. 

D-Rev: Design for the other 90%

D-Rev (Design Revolution) is a non-profit technology incubator in Bay area aimed at deigning  and delivering world-class market-driven products for BOP market.Through a collaboration with the Jaipur Foot Organization (BMVSS) in India and Stanford University, Re:Motion team has designed and tested the Jaipur Knee joint prototype.Recognized by TIME Magazine as a Top 50 Invention of 2009, the JaipurKnee technology leverages (i) easily manufactured plastic parts and (ii) a proven polycentric kinematic mechanism to achieve significantly increased stability and gait efficiency when compared with other low-cost alternatives.D-Rev recently announced that Phoenix Medical Systems in India will run the marketing and distribution of D-Rev's Brilliance product, a neo-natal phototherapy device used to treat infants with the brain-damaging disease, jaundice, and which comes at a price tag of $400 instead of the usual $3,000. Other projects in pipeline are: Global scope for rural clinics, cold pasteurization of milk, Solar concentrator etc.

Open Innovation challenges on Innoget

David Rafols is the CEO and co-founder of Innoget with a wealth of experience on innovation management and R&D projects. Prior to founding Innoget, he was a technology sourcing manager at CIDEM, an Innovation Agency within the Catalonia local government, Barcelona, Spain. David has also worked for several food industry companies, such as Chupa Chups S.A. (technical manager) and Danone S.A. (R&D engineer). He has a degree in Biology and an MBA for the University of Barcelona. Some challenges :
A Hungarian technology transfer agency is looking for a manufacturer of the named medical instrument that is equipped with an image recording device and uses illumination with different wavelength.The instrument is capable of recording skin lesions, and of helping the uses in the diagnosing process. The system consists of two parts. These are the scanning device, and the docking station.

The scanning device contains an image recording device (camera or photodevice), which is used to take pictures of the inspected skin surface. It also contains LED-s with different wavelength, to illuminate the surface (an additional option is to attach polarizing filters). To get the appropriate sized images, a custom parameterized lens is built into the device.

The recorded image is automatically transferred to an external system (PC or PDA). The communication is made via a wired (USB, ETHERNET) and/or wireless (WiFi) channel. 

The internal electronics are the image recording device (already available), the LED circle, and a controlling circuit (custom circuit). This controls the LED-s, switches the system on or off and triggers the camera. All the circuits are made of SMD components. The case has an ergonomic design. There is one push button and a LED indicator on it. With these two things the user can easily operate the instrument. The other part, the docking station has a charging circuit inside, hence if we do not use the scanning device, the dock charges it continuously (with custom circuit). The device operates with a rechargeable accumulator. Built-in LCD hardware is an extra option for a quick diagnosis.

During the design phase, the main objective was, to design it clearly, in order to assist the manufacturing stage. All the custom built components were designed with CAD softwares. If a component is already available, then obtainability, and ease of inclusion into the system were taken into account. In the design stage, facilitating the manufacturing process is also very important. During the design stage a range of common standards were incorporated.  

Input documents and files for manufacturing:

The company can provide AutoCAD 2010 (.dwg) design files for case and docking station design, Eagle 5.7.0 schematics and layout design files for custom electronics. The program codes for PIC MCU are written in the latest Microchip MPLAB. We can provide the project files and the .c, .asm source codes. They will provide detailed description of necessary, already available components (for example image recording device).

Sushruta Innovation Award (SIA)

As a part of Innovation Cluster initiative promoted by Dept of Science and Technology and implemented by Foundation for MSME Clusters , this student competition is planned for student innovators in Biomedical engg, Medical technology etc 

last date: 20th January 2011. Winning team gets cash prize of Rs 50,000/- and an opportunity to display the innovation at International Conference on Indian Medical devices , on 12th Feb 2011 at Ahmedabad. Details: 
http://www.innovationclusters.org/Pharmaceutical_Clusters_Initiative.html

BubleBee Radar from Samraksh

The Samraksh Company was founded by Dr. Anish Arora and Dr. Kenneth W. Parker in 2005.The BumbleBee, a low-power, mote-scale Pulsed Doppler Radar sensor board, is The Samraksh Company's first offering in a suite of Wireless Sensor Network products.The BumbleBee Radar enables a number of low-power, wireless sensor network applications including simple motion detection, robust intrusion detection using velocity estimation, velocity-based motion tracking and vibration monitoring.

Graduate students are invited to submit their idea for an application of BumbleBee Radar. Ideas will be screened by two distinguished experts, Akos Ledeczi and Ted Herman to establish a minimum standard. Ideas meeting the minimum standard will be posted and evaluated by the crowd. If the idea is accepted the students will get a  BumbleBee Radar free.

Penalty under the proposed IPR bill

The much discussed IPR Bill  says : The researcher taking govt grant has to apply for patent protection and bear all expenses for its protection and enforcement (section 7) . If the researcher fails to do , then govt will recover grant released with 10% interest (section 20). Will any researcher retain title of IP with these conditions?

Prof. Arumugam Manthiram

Prof Arumugam Manthiram, a graduate from Madurai University , Professor University of Texas is researcher on Lithium Ion Battery developing low-cost, high-energy, high power cathode materials and nanostructured, safe anode materials for portable and transportation applications.Start-up Actacell is based on his research. Researchers needing a high power pack for HEV can contact him.

IDEA 2011

The IDEA® (International Design Excellence Awards) program is the premier international competition honoring design excellence in products, eco design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts. Entries are invited from designers, students and companies worldwide. The contest is now open and will close by 28th Jan 2011.
IDEA 2011 Entry Process, Criteria & Process

2011 Global R&D Funding Forecast

Forecast released by R&D Magazine. The global R&D total for 2011 will be $1.2 trillion as stability returns and globalization narrows the R&D gap between countries. China has overtaken Japan as the world’s second-highest R&D funder, but despite a lower-than-average predicted 2011 R&D funding growth rate at just 2.4%, the United States still leads all countries by funding one-third of global R&D. US is expected to spend about 405 $ billion, Japan 144$ billion, China 153$billion and India 36$ billion. India spends more than Canada, Taiwan, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Israel  etc . In Pharma development, US lead with 71% budget, followed by Germany (10%), China (4%) and UK (1%).

While setting goals for the past several years to increase its R&D to GDP ratio to more than 1%, its actual performance has seen a stable ratio over the past several years at 0.9%. Of this spending, 0.61% is attributable to government R&D investments, which have been increasing over the past several years. Industrial investments in Indian R&D have risen 10% over the same period. The current total target for R&D as a share of GDP is 1.2% by 2012. Also, India graduates almost twice as many college graduates each year as China. But only 2% to 5% of those graduates have basic vocational skills, compared with 96% in Korea, 75% in Germany and 68% in the U.S., according to Indian government reports. Similarly, only about 25% of the engineers graduated in India have the language skills, practical knowledge and cultural attitudes to work for multinational companies.

Download report: 

Tata Swatch Nanotech water purifier gets gold at IDSA Design of the Decade awards

IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) announced Design of the Decade awards in several categories. In the  `Solution to developing world social problem' Tata Swatch water purifier is awarded Gold  with citation:

The lack of safe drinking water is a major problem in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), water borne diseases are the leading cause of death in children under 5. Some estimates attribute 80 percent of all diseases and 33 percent of all deaths in the developing world to unsafe drinking water. The Tata Swach (Hindi for “clean”) is setting out to provide clean drinking water to the millions of people worldwide who don’t have it. In India, Tata Swach’s first focus, only about 6 percent of urban Indians and less than 1 percent of rural Indians use a water purifier. Accessible technology, ease of use and affordability are just some of the issues the design needed to tackle. The heart of the Tata Swach Nanotech Water Purifier is the Tata Swach Bulb, which purifies water without using electricity, a resource rarely available in rural areas. The Bulb can fit into existing storage vessels or ceramic pots that are widely used in rural India. It uses naturally available paddy husk ash as its water purification medium. The silica in the ash attracts organisms, which are then killed by the nano-silver in the admixture. Water can be gathered from any source, including wells, streams and lakes. Another unique feature is the Tata Swach Fuse. The purification power gets depleted after about 3,000 liters. To alert users when the Bulb is exhausted, the Fuse triggers a shut-off mechanism, which blocks the water flow and protects users from drinking impure water. The Fuse also indicates the remaining life of the Bulb, giving users enough warning to buy a new one. Replacing the Bulb is as simple as replacing a light bulb. The company’s marketing campaign is aimed at converting non-users to users of water purifiers centered on spreading awareness about the need to purify drinking water. Tata Swach costs about $0.02 per day for a family of five.

The Genius in all of us by David Shenk

The author, David Shenk, a journalist by profession digs into a huge volume of psychology research to reassure us that there is a Genius untapped in all of us. In the process he demystifies several myths on inherited talents:

• Like intelligence, talents are not innate gifts, but the result of a slow, invisible accretion of skills developed from the moment of conception. Everyone is born with differences and some with unique advantages for certain tasks. But no one is genetically designed into greatness and few are biologically restricted from attaining it.
• Talent is not a thing, it is a process. Records are regularly broken because people are training harder and smarter.
• Genes, Proteins and environmental signals ( including human behaviour and emotions) constantly interact with one another and this interactive process influences the production of proteins which then guide the functions of cells, which form traits.
• Children develop only as the environment demands development.
• Ordinary practice, where your current skill level is simply being reinforced is not enough to get better. It takes a special kind of practice to force yr mind and body into the kind of change necessary to improve.

Buy the book: http://geniusblog.davidshenk.com/     

Saankhya labs TV Demodulator gets global recognition

Saankhya bags two prestigious awards:

 

1.Frost & Sullivan Excellence Award in the category "Entrepreneurial Company in the Indian Semiconductor Market"

 

2. IMS research instituted "Global TV Innovations award 2010 in the semiconductor category".  The TV Innovation Awards honor the most groundbreaking companies in the television space shaping the future of the medium in 14 different categories.

 

can this be the first disruptive innovation from India ?

 

Design for a Billion Customers

The 10^th CII – NID Design Summit will be held at Delhi on December 20 and 21. The summit theme “Design for a Billion Customers” is about harnessing the people power of India to find new business opportunities.

Design and Design Thinking provides the road map and toolkit for this radical new thinking which is people centered. Design is essentially a human activity. Besides aesthetics and style, design expresses people’s aspiration and needs. It channelizes expressed and unexpressed needs of the people. By embracing design, businesses can achieve incremental and radical innovation. Design helps to refine and develop existing products for existing markets. At the same time it focuses on people to address new markets and create entirely new products and business models. Focusing on people helps to ensure that businesses develop the right products and services for the right markets, first time and all the time.

Contact: 

Udayant Malhoutra

Chairman, CII National Committee on Design 2010-11

CEO & MD, Dynamatics Technologies Ltd

3rd floor, IGSSS Building

28, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road

New Delhi - 110 003

Tel     : +91-11-45772023(D) / 45772000 Ext - 223

Fax    : +91-11-45772001

Email : udayant.malhoutra@cii.in

Design led revival of Ambassador car

Onio Design is working to create excitement with old Ambassador car- a formidable challenge. Can they deliver? They had the competence- successfully redesigned another static product, Godrej security vault.

Ventura 2011

Fourth edition of Ventura organised by NIT Trichy offers:

• cash prize of Rs 4 lakhs to winners
• incubation support upto Rs 100 lakhs for each of the finalists
• mentoring support by NSRCEL, IIMB

Last date for submission of executive summery: 25th Dec 2010.
Details : http://www.ecell-nitt.org/portal/ecell/ventura/index.html
Contact: Ragini Rangarajan,

Head, Mentor Network, Entrepreneurship Cell, NIT-Trichy, 

+91 99405 13590 ragini@ecell-nitt.org

LumiSmart- adaptive lighting control

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) and National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) honoured Cavet Technologies Inc. with the 2010 Ontario Regional Award for New Technology.

Cavet's LumiSmart ILC is compatible with leading fluorescent systems including T5, T8, T12,electronic and magnetic ballasts (single phase or multiphase). The LumiSmart ILC functions on both 50Hz and 60Hz electrical systems and provides automated voltage selection for 100v, 120v, 230/240v, 277v, 347v on 15Amp or 20Amp circuits. A single LumiSmart ILC can manage lighting loads of up to 6.9Kw or up to 130 fluorescent lamps (347v , 20 Amp circuit). The product provides power savings by altering the power waveform and then applies adaptive power factor correction.
Waveform ModificationCavet's LumiSmart ILC is protected by 2 US patents on adaptive waveform modification and 4 additional patents pending approval in the United States, Canada, Europe and other regions. LumiSmart applies waveform modification to the electrical sine wave. By inserting on-off pulses in to the sine wave, LumiSmart is able to dramatically reduce electrical consumption with minimal impact on lighting levels. Depending on the type of ballast that is configured on the circuit, LumiSmart applies different waveform algorithms to provide optimized power savings.
Why LumiSmart? Technical Information

cultivating creative leaders-IBM study

IBM carried out survey of 700 HR managers across the globe to narrow down challenges. Interesting are the employee motivations in growth markets Vs mature markets. Compensation better than the norm is main consideration for attracting talent in growth market where as aligning company values with personal value is the major factor in matured markets. Similarly HR managers in growth markets feel career growth is the biggest determinant in retaining employees while their counter parts in mature market value most new or challenging responsibilities. 

Is the selection and compensation mechanism in India a barrier to attract leaders- Creative Leaders in ICT sector?

3nethra wins Piramal Prize 2010

Forus Health Care, start-up from Bangalore, innovator of 3 nethra, a patented, non-Mydriatic Pre-Screening system was awarded Piramal Prize 2010 in the Emerging ventures category.  The technology venture is promoted by a group of seniors, Dr Shyam Vasudev, Director of Technology, Philips Innovation Campus, Bangalore, Chandrasekhar, NXP Semi conductors, Padmanabha Holla, Philips Healcare and others. 3nethra provides multiple digital imaging functions ( retinal imaging, cornea imaging, auto refraction) in one device built around innovative optics system. Patented intuitive control software facilitates rapid detection of diabetic retinopathy,  cataract, symptoms of glaucoma and refraction errors. The product is under evaluation at Arvind Eye care. 


IRENE nanocoating, Axio Biosolutions, TATVA and Healthpoint Services were other finalists. IRENE Nanocare solutions, start-up from IIT Kanpur takes the research of Prof Sunder Manoharan on drug free, polymer nano coted stent to market. The venture is backed by Pramod Haque, VC from USA. The patented technology is available for license. contact: ssunder@iitk.ac.in. 
Axio Biosolutions, start-up from Ahmedabad  is promoted by technopreneur Leo Mavely, addresses the problem of traumatic bleeding. It replaces cotton gauze in effective to stop major bleeding and is a low cost substitute for expensive imported products.This life saving product is under clinical testing and entrepreneur is looking for business partners. contact  leo.mavely@axiobio.com . 
TATVA is start-up by Saurav das & Srinivasan from Stanley Medical College, Chennai partnering with Gurlivleen & Satya of NIT Suratkal. The product Amrita is a hand held device loaded with decision support system to empower village level health workers with protocols for common ailments. They are looking for incubation support. 
Health point solutions promoted by Amit jain and backed by Al Hammond has set up demonstration projects at few places in Punjab offering medicines, water and diagnosis with tele medicine under one roof. The project is available for replication all across the country and rural entrepreneurs can contact amit.jain@globalhealthpoints.com

The competition executed by CIIE-IIMA attracted many more start-ups and CIIE offers to mentor the winners, finalists and all other participants.

Has Babbar wrecked its case for army orders on Light Recovery Vehicles?

Post in SPICY IP by Prashant Reddy (without going into legal aspects) are narrative of problems faced by SMEs in developing products for government agencies.

Babbar Wrecker is a manufacturer of car/ truck recovery units (LRV). Army came with a requirement for 7.5 ton LRV and small firm Babbar and large firm Ashok Leyland (AL) were among those that responded. Army suggested a combination using AL Chassis and Babbars  super structure. The product submitted by AL-Babbar combination was accepted and orders started pouring in. Initially Babbar got a part of the cake and later it dried up with AL placing orders on others. These type of  problems crop up for SME due to purchase practices such as:


1. Govt taking ownership of IP without created it. 
2. Insistence on dealing with large firms to meet eligibility conditions.
3.Enforcing multiple vendor rule, forcing innovator to license to competitors.

  Any views?

Patented Business opportunity- anti aging skin care compositions

Patent iNSIGHT Pro periodically brings out Technology Insight reports and this one on Anti Aging Skin Care is important for India. Summery is given below, complete analysis  can be seen on web

Anti-aging creams usually contain anti-aging ingredients such as: Retinol, Epidermal Growth Factor,Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids,Peptides, Coenzyme Q10, Anti-oxidants, Sunscreens. P&G tops the list of Patent assignees with over 100 patents. Proctor & Gamble as well as L’Oreal lead the assignees for patents in Sunscreen ingredients. It’s also visible that although L’Oreal has more Zinc Oxide related patents, P&G has more related to P-Aminobenzoic Acid.  When it comes to innovations around developing Botox, Allergan Inc. leads the way with 16 out of a total 425 patents for this category. Less than 10% of patents are about pigmentation change and chemical peels like Beta Hydroxy acids, Alpha Hydroxy acids forming major ingredient.And considering our obsession with fair skin, there seems many patented business opportunities.

Identify a start-up and can win $3000 cash award from ennovent

Great opportunity to mentors. Select one of yr start-up addressing some of India's critical needs like energy, education , health, food, water and nominate them to ennovent.  Customers of the enterprise should be poor Indians with earning of $3 per day. U can win $3,000 and enterprise can get investment upto$500,000. Details:  ennovent

Easy access to IP at University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow has launched its "Easy Access IP" project through which entrepreneurs can get free licenses to university patents, software and reports, and through which faculty will conduct free consulting -- the only requirement is that recipients have to acknowledge that the university was the source of the technical knowledge and inventions.


SightSim is one such a technology on offer.Children with visual impairment don’t complain of poor vision because they don’t know what they can’t see. SightSim has been developed to help make their world a more visible place. Developed by NHS clinicians at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow in collaboration with scientists at the University of Glasgow, SightSim is a unique tool designed for those caring visually-impaired children. The software uses the child’s measurement of vision – acuity and constrast sensitivity – to degrade images to match the child’s vision. SightSim can be used at the doctor’s clinic, schools and at home to show you what the child is seeing, allowing parents and carers to then make sure all the important things in life – text, faces, route-markers, pictures – are big or bright or close enough for the child to see.

Grand Challenge under Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF)

The Grand Challenge Fund have a two stage application process, a call for expressions of interest (EoI), followed by successful applicants being invited to move to the second stage and submit a full application. EoIs opened at 09:00 on 29 November 2010 and will close at 16:00 on 28 January 2011.

The first round of the Grand Challenge Fund will address challenges in the themes of 'food and water security' and 'the environment'. Preferred themes:

Food and water security

• Integrated water resource management
• Potable water supply
• Plant and animal sciences
• Dryland agriculture
• Post-harvest management

The Environment

• Regional climate modelling
• Marine
• Bioremediation

See: Guidelines

DISCOVER STARS - AN INNOVATION COMPETITION WITH CALIBRATED PROCESSES

Indian Institute of Management, celebrating 50 years of service to nation has taken several new initiatives to support the national innovation eco-system. `Discover STARS’ is one such an initiative implemented in partnership with reputed technical institutes and coordinated by CIIE (Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship) of the institute.

Focus area: ICT sector

The activities spread over several months involve active mentoring of participating student teams by CIIE team and mentors from Mentor Edge. Activity starts with students from invited technical institutes registering by 30th Dec 2010. First stage is IP mapping (January 7 to February 21, 2011), followed by Technology assessment ( May 15 to June 30, 2011), Innovation planning ( August 15 to September 30, 2011) and Scenario writing (October 15 to November 30, 2011)

On successful completion of 4 stages, the participating students would get 4 prestigious certificates from CIIE-IIMA and the best team would get cash award of Rs 2 lakhs.
For details, contact: asrao@iimahd.ernet.in

ASIAN YOUNG INVENTORS EXHIBITION (AYIE) 20-22 May 2011, Kuala Lumpur

Asian Young Inventors Exhibition 2011 (AYIE) will be held concurrently at ITEX 2011 (22nd International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition) from 20-22 May 2011 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia. For young inventors, this is an exclusive platform to showcase their inventions and innovations internationally. Young inventors from the ages of 20 years and below (as of 1st January 2011) have the opportunity to be exposed to international level competitions and also to share with like-minded young inventors at AYIE as well as inventors at ITEX 2011.  

Contact- Event Manager – C.I.S Network Sdn Bhd (Ms Stacy Ng) at tel: +603-79824668 (ext. 201) or email: stacy@cisnetwork.com

Climate Change agreements and technology transfer

No less than a technological revolution, both in the development of new technologies and in enhancing access to existing technologies by developing countries, is necessary to enabling action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.Several technologies are identified in UNFCCC report:

Technologies for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions:
 Examples of technologies for mitigating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions may include:
• Energy efficiency;
• Renewable energy technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, biomass and hydro-power generation, as well as technologies for geothermal energy and ocean energy;
• Carbon capture and storage, which involves capturing carbon dioxide before it can be emitted into the atmosphere, transporting it to a secure location, and isolating it from the atmosphere, for example by storing it in a geological formation;
• Hybrid vehicles, for example those that switch between electric and combustion engines;
• Nuclear power.
Examples of technologies for mitigating methane (CH4) emissions may include:  

• Animal waste management: Methane released from liquid manure management systems can be captured and used to meet a portion of a farm’s energy requirements or simply flared;
• Livestock management: Improved nutrition and grazing management has been identified as effective in increasing efficiency and reducing methane emissions;
• Landfill methane capture and use: The principal approach to reducing methane emissions from landfills involves the collection and combustion or use of landfill gas. Landfill gas utilization technologies focus on electricity generation and direct gas use;
• Natural gas and oil systems: Current opportunities for reducing methane emissions include both process and hardware improvements, such as equipment upgrades.
Examples of technologies for mitigating nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions may include:
• Matching nitrogen supply with crop demand, tightening nitrogen flow cycles, and optimising tillage, irrigation and drainage could reduce nitrous oxide emissions from fertiliser use by 19%;
• Fertiliser: Nitrogenous fertilizers play an important role in increasing crop yields. Reducing N2O emissions can include the use of low N2O-emitting fertilizer or the use of slow-release fertilizers and nitrification inhibitors.
Examples of technologies for mitigating hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) emissions may include:
• Improved design, tighter components, and recovery and recycling during servicing and disposal of refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pumps can reduce lifetime HFC emissions at moderate to low costs.
Technologies for adaptation to adverse impacts of climate change:
 Examples of technologies for coastal areas:
• Accommodate sea-level rise (improved drainage, emergency planning);
• Protect against sea-level rise (hard, soft and indigenous technologies);
• Managed retreat.
Examples of technologies in the agricultural and fishing industries:
• Tolerant/resistant crop varieties (to drought/heat, salt, insects/pests);
• Efficient water utilization and improved irrigation systems;
• Heat-tolerant livestock breeds.
Examples of technologies for water resources:
• Water recycling and conservation (including rainwater harvesting);
• Water desalination.
Examples of technologies for health improvement:
• Disease monitoring and surveillance;
• Upgrading of drinking water and sanitation.
Examples of technologies for systematic observation and monitoring:
• Improved data collection;
• Improved data management and data processing systems.

Working in these areas-  share the information.

Tata group makes strategic investment in Sun Catalytix

Business Standard carried the news that Tata group is investing millions of dollars in Sun Catalytix — an energy storage and renewable fuels company — founded by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor, Daniel Nocera. The aim is to introduce a low-cost solar contraption to power homes for the poor, primarily in developing countries like India.

The research was carried out by MIT Prof Daniel Nocera and initial research was funded by  National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Sun Catalytix, founded by Daniel Nocera, received a $700,000 seed investment led by Polaris Ventures.Development continued to replace costly catalyst and the Indian firm with vision - Tata invested in the start-up. Many Chinese firms made such strategic investments but this is the first by an Indian firm. 

What is the role Indian/ Chinese origin students/ faculty play in accessing promising technologies at fluid stage?

Innovation Tournments by Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich

DST- P&G Challenge of the month `Innovative Whitening Technologies superior to Hydroquinone' ushered in `Open Innovation' into India and going by the experience of innovation leaders , one can predict this Juggernaut would not stop. Innovation Tournaments by Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich , Professors at The Wharton School provides a practical guide in tapping the global brains.

Do you believe that Innovation process can be standardized- then read this. The authors narrate processes to pull innovation opportunities from strategy, select innovation projects by taking into account both estimated profits and investment needs, creating a balanced pipeline with different time horizons, designing filters for ideas, deploying financial models and creating organisational structure. More over the software  Darwinator and other resources listed in the book are free to download on registration.

CARMa Connect

CARMa raises capital from high net worth individuals to provide risk capital between Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 5 crores. CARMa Accredited Sponsors will identify/ support high growth potential entrepreneurs/ SMEs in their region. Details: http://www.carmagroup.in/#  

Medical Device cluster near Ahmedabad (Gujarat)

GIDC is developing an industrial estate adjoining Tata nano project at Sanand and part of this land is allocated to Medical Device companies. Land allotment is planned during `Vibrant Gujarat Investment Summit' in January 2011. contact: Dr D.L.Pandya, dlpandya@gmail.com

2010 Indian MedTech Summit

The 4th annual summit organised by Stanford-India Biodesign will be held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on Dec 11th. See Agenda Contact:

Ms. Christine Kurihara, christine.kurihara@stanford.edu

GE EDISON CHALLENGE 2010: The Finalists

These 10 teams will participate in the Final Round to be held at John F Welch Technology Centre, Bangalore, India on 9th and 10th December 2010.

Sl No	Team Name	Institution Name
1	Changemechers	Indian Inst. of Technology, Kharagpur
2	Deja-BHU	Inst. of Technology (Banaras Hindu Univ.), Varanasi
3	Gram-Dhanvantari (IIT Bombay)	Indian Inst. of Technology, Mumbai
4	HeartBeat	Indian Inst. of Technology, Kharagpur
5	IWANJAU	Sri Jayachamrajendra College of Engineering, Mysore
6	Mycobrats	Sastra Univ., Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
7	Nano.skm	Sastra Univ., Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
8	New Age Innovators	Indian Inst. of Technology, Kharagpur
9	Rural_Focus	Indian Inst. of Technology, Kharagpur
10	Thinkers	Indian Inst. of Technology, Kharagpur

 

Open Planet ideas: idea sourcing by Sony with WWF

The competition is in the Concepting stage - there are 215 concepts to refine.

INDIA INNOVATION INITIVE -i3 : INNOVATORS SHORTLISTED FOR MENTORING/ INCUBATION SUPPORT BY CIIE-IIMA

With out-of-the-box innovations, India shows its science quotient

Ten of them are shortlisted for mentoring/ incubation support by CIIE-IIMA under InnovatorX platform. They are:
Swetank jain/ intelligent power conditioner with hybrid system integrator, Jatindra nath das/ an adjusting grabbing bucket, GB Krishnappa & others/ A simple system for production on distilled water, Nandan kumar/ machine to mfr three dimensional non wooven fibrous structure for medical application, Kishore R/ Pulse wave velocity measurement system, Omkar Kumar/ Synbiotic Ice cream, Chavan Nitin Sureshrao/ controlling foaming without using antifoam agents, Chhaya harihar gadgole/ herbal lipstick, Ambati Venketeswara rao/ process equipment for refrigeration plants and Vinod kumar kansal/ probiotic dahi.

A Search for a Rural Toilet Design Begins on 19th Nov – the World Toilet Day

A Search for a Rural Toilet Design Begins on 19th Nov – the World Toilet Day

Agro Tech 2010 Chandigarh

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organising the 9th edition of Agro Tech - India’s Premier Biennial Agro Technology & Business Fair from Friday, 3 – Monday, 6 December 2010 at the Chandigarh. Sustainable Agriculture’ is the theme of Agro Tech 2010 and aims at integrating technological advancements, environmental & ecological stewardship & technical knowledge for the farming community & other consumers under one roof. contact:
Vivek Gupta , Confederation of Indian Industry (Northern Region Headquarters), Block No. 3, Dakshin Marg, Sector 31-A, Chandigarh 160030 (INDIA), : +91-172-2607228 +91-9646648390

Michael Dell - 2020 Shaping Ideas

The NEN First Dot 2010-2011- student startup showcase

An initiative of the NEN Entrepreneurship Cells in Chennai and the NEN Trust, the First Dot brings together student start-ups from across the country, providing them an opportunity to showcase their products and services to a panel of successful entrepreneurs, expert mentors, national print and electronic media, as well as a large number of peers. The showcase will take place at the SSN College of Engineering in Chennai on January 10th and 11th, 2011. NEN First Dot is currently inviting nominations from student startups across the country, last date 15th Dec. For details contact: 
Vijay Sharma , +91 9535509762

Body Powered Devices - The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 - TIME

Body Powered Devices - The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 - TIME

Best India 2011

BEST-India (Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Student Teams) is aimed at encouraging young postgraduate and doctoral students in developing biotechnology entrepreneurship and exposing them to issues involved in commercialization of bio-science. BEST is sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology (www.dbtindia.nic.in), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and is administered by ABLE - India (www.ableindia.org) 

Students have to form a team comprising of 5 team members, identify a team leader and a faculty member/mentor as a Guide. The Guide is optional. Each team will submit a Concept Note based on which a Panel will screen the applications and shortlist 20 teams. These 20 teams will attend a fully paid for high quality Entrepreneurship Workshop that will familiarize them on matters related to starting a business venture like Business Plans, IP & Patenting Strategies, Raising Finance, Business Strategies and HR Practices. At the end of the Workshop, each team will develop a business plan based on their Concept and learning from the Workshop and make a ten minute power point presentation to the Jury. The Jury will evaluate and critique each of the business plans and identify 3 winning teams. The 3 Winning teams will be awarded Prize money of Rs.500, 000/-, Rs. 300,000/- and Rs. 200,000/ respectively. The winning teams will be also be given an opportunity to attend and present their business plans at ABLE’s Annual BioInvest Conference. BioInvest is ABLE’s flagship conference that brings together on one platform Life Science Companies, Institutional Investors and Investment Bankers to explore opportunities for investment. 

Upload concept notes between Nov 20th ,2010 to Jan 18,2011

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/r_a_mashelkar_breakthrough_designs_for_ultra_low_cost_products.html

See this video of Dr RA Mashelkar
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/r_a_mashelkar_breakthrough_designs_for_ultra_low_cost_products.html

Moving Ideas from University to Market Place

Moving Ideas from University to Market Place

The Power of Ideas convocation 2010-Daily-TV-Economic Times

The Power of Ideas convocation 2010-Daily-TV-Economic Times

I-Slate

Story behind I-Slate:  Prof Krishna V. Palem is the Kenneth and Audrey Kennedy Professor of Computing at the Department of Computer Science at the George Brown School of Engineering at Rice University. His research interests while focussed on all aspects of embedded computing, include adaptive architectures and computing, algorithms, compiler optimizations, embedded systems, low energy computing and nanoelectronics. He is the founding director of VISEN center at Rice University. Institute for Sustainable Nanotechnology and Electronics (ISAID) was established at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which invested $4 million to develop a low power chip. The new chip, which is being developed by ISAID and the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, makes it possible for the I-slate to run on solar power from panels similar to those used in hand-held calculators.I-Slate now under testing in India is based on this chip.

UNESCO report on Engineering

Engineering is the most popular subject yet engineering a prototype is the most challenging conversion task in taking `idea' to `market'. The Report sheds new light on the need to:
develop public and policy awareness and understanding of engineering, affirming the role of engineering as the driver of innovation, social and economic development; develop information on engineering, highlighting the urgent need for better statistics and indicators on engineering ; transform engineering education, curricula and teaching methods to emphasize relevance and a problem-solving approach to engineering; more effectively innovate and apply engineering and technology to global issues and challenges such as poverty reduction, sustainable development and climate change – and urgently develop greener engineering and lower carbon technology.

challenge in Due Diligence

Checking on promoter's intention is a big challenge in providing public funds to start-ups. I had my share of failures in spotting shady characters. Read this story of X Prize giving prize money  $2.50 million to Li-Ion Motors uncovered by NYTimes. Is the person behind the scam (Salim Rana) of  Indian origin? 

`The Global Brain' by Satish Nambiasan and Mohanbir, Wharton School Publishing (2008)

Satish Nambisan is professor of technology management and strategy at the Lally School of Management Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, and Mohanbir Sawhney is McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology and the Director of the Center for Research  in Technology & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

In this book, the authors trace the titanic shift from Firm Centric to Network Centric Innovation and prescribe 4 models to tap the Global Brains.

Innovation used to be something companies did within their four walls. Thousands of researchers and scientists toiled deep within the bowels of large corporations to create the next big thing. Corporations attempted to hire the best and the brightest researchers and managers to drive research and new product development. Then came Internet , Open Source ,Crowd sourcing,  Open Innovation etc and consultants, academics , media joined the chorus to liberate innovation from organizational boundaries.

The Global Brain is rich and diverse- a large number of innovative firms as well as a large pool of innovative people  exist in different parts of the world whose knowledge and creativity can be leveraged by the companies. Moreover, new types of innovation intermediaries and new technological infrastructure have made tapping into such global network of innovators, scientists and innovative firms easier than even before. Thus the imperative for sourcing external innovation is matched by the rapidly expanding horizon of innovation opportunities.

Network Centric Innovation (NCI) is an externally focused approach to innovation that relies on harnessing the resources and capabilities of external networks and communities to amplify or enhance innovation speed and the quality of innovation outcomes. A wide variety of networks, players and roles are emerging; business ecosystems, alliance constellations, open source communities, expert communities, inventor communities, customer communities etc. Network Centric Innovation embraces these different types and also captures the unique approaches to organizing innovation  that arise from the combination of different types of networks and interactions of companies with different types of innovation networks.

The concept of NIC has four defining principles: shared goals, shared world-view, social knowledge creation and architecture of participation. The four models of network centric innovation are: The orchestra model,The creative bazaar model, The Jam central model,  The MOD station model.

Read More