Unleashing creativity of students

 A common misconception today is that innovators are innately creative people. In fact innovators aren’t born, they’re made. So we can learn the attributes that leading innovators share.

1. Risk- take risks. The real fun in life is taking risks and trying something new. To try and fail is at least to learn. To fail to try is to suffer the inestimable loss of what might have been.

2. Try-try lots of ways.There cannot be a thing called “good habit” in the context of innovation. Anything that becomes a habit cannot produce something new, cannot bring in some changes. The mind is programmed to function in the same way and to expect the same outcome. So there is no question of innovation.

3. Flip-flip yr plan from the end. Start with end in mind. A problem statement should end up with an interrogation mark. The question also should be an open-ended question which will lead to several answers. ‘Population Explosion" in India’ is a simply a statement. “Can we do anything for the population explosion in India?” is still not a problem as this is a close-ended question leading to known number of sure answers such as “Yes”, “No” or “May be.” It becomes a problem only when it is phrased like “How can we control the population explosion in India?”

4. Solve – solve a simple ordinary problem everyday. Moving from ‘yes, but’ to ‘yes, and’ is in fact moving from the limited left brain to the fertile right brain.

5. Grow- grow with each approach. SCAMPER is a ‘mnemonic’ that stands for: • Substitute •Combine• Adapt• Modify• Put to another use • Eliminate• Reverse. By asking questions about existing products, services or strategies, using each of the seven prompts of SCAMPER, one can come up with creative ideas for developing new and for improving the existing ones.

6. Inspire-find what inspires you.Inspired people seed the problems in their subconscious minds and at the unexpected moment, bout of ideas spring up. The subconscious mind is the storehouse of all our knowledge, which we have gained from our childhood.

7. Learn-learn more about the failures.

8. Explore- continue to explore wherever you are are.

9. Think- Take time to think.Sleeping on a problem is a common strategy successful people use for finding solutions. Unconscious mental processing, called incubation, has provided some greatest breakthroughs in history.

10.Ask- ask random people about things. Dissidents are the people who help us see things, which we fail to see, or are not able to see. Of course there are several of them doing this for various reasons.

11.Open- be open to Ideas. You cannot see something new by looking harder in the same direction.

12.Express-boldly express ideas.

13.Press- Press into an idea, Draw it out, share it, rework it.

14.Change-embrace change with an excited heart. Each day is a great opportunity to try something new and push yourself into areas that test your capabilities as well as widen your horizons. If you fancy taking on something extra special, start with the following personal challenges: Run a marathon, Volunteer for charity work, Exercise your brain by learning a new language or to play a musical instrument.Surprise yourself by doing things which you said to yourself, ‘I could never do that.’Get a new job. Overcome fear by doing exactly that. Join a sports club.

15.Raise funds for charity.

16.Act- act on innovation when the ideas come.act on it.The major issue in implementing an idea is the mindset. Five point strategy, 1) Persistence 2) Influencing people 3) Back to the drawing board 4) I’m in charge and 5) Taking systems view.

17.Search-search for another way.Treat it like a maze.

18.Process- be open to the process.

19.Challenge- find people who will challenge you.

20.Dream-Dream, record your dream, put it into action.

21.Share- share your idea with others, work together.

22.Draw- Draw out what the problem is – Draw out the solutions.

23.Pursue- Pursue innovation. Do not wait for it to come.

24.Reach- Reach beyond your own abilities.

25.Improve- Identify ways to improve every aspect of your life.

26.Dare- Dare to challenge the accepted. Create a challenge book.A challenge book reflects curiosity and curiosity is the mother of innovation. Sometimes curiosity is triggered by necessity. Increasing energy costs, necessitates one to look for alternate sources.

27.Create- Create an environment of innovation.Make it the norm.

28.Share- share ownership of innovation.Knowledge is available everywhere: Knowledge today stands distributed. So it is now crucial to identify promising ideas from anywhere before others do so.

Reading:

1. Who is Creative?

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1142469

2. 101 Ways to Create and Innovate, Annamalai Natarajan ,

https://www.flipkart.com/101-ways-create-innovate/p/itma8d5522bb4fd9

3. Video : https://youtu.be/ke8nFuG_FZw

Student Idea competition-India

 Ministry of Education (MoE), Govt. of India has established ‘MoE’s Innovation Cell (MIC)’ to systematically foster the culture of Innovation amongst all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The primary mandate of MIC is to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by supporting them to work with new ideas and transform them into prototypes while they are informative years. Outcome of Smart India Hackathon 2019:

34 Themes

806 ideas

565 for government agencies

241 for Industry.

Check the Idea description and team details: https://www.mic.gov.in/micoutcome

AccuSpine from UG students of John Hopkins University

AcuSpine is the finalist of this years Collegiate Inventors Competition (USA).
Project Description  is given in the University page. The students promoted start up white light medical to commercialize the invention.

Q&A By Abhishar team of IIITM, Gwalior

Abhishar is a student publication of IIITM, Gwalior. Vol 2 of November 2012 includes Q&A with me. See them below:

1. What do you presume to be like an X-factor in innovators for the  screening process?

Prior work and due diligence.student innovators could start business with  entry barriers for competitors provided the business is related to their  project/ institute IP.

 2. Whilst observing dozens of technopreneurs for so many years now, which  property would you consider was rarest amongst them?

Speed of conversion from proof of concept to commercial product. Being first timers, the technopreneurs do not have access to commercial enterprises production know-how.And commercially successful products need to be made of currently available commercial components/ sub-assemblies.

3. What was the prime advantage you considered the IP mapping project  would bring to the Indian education sector?

Awareness- the students need to know what someone in their institute knows and what students of other institutes knew. Prior-art is global and students should routinize tracking. 

4. In the thick of a number of successful entrepreneurs, whose name would  you consider worth mentioning as a source of inspiration for our readers?

Inspiration comes from innovators students can relate to in their field to emulate.If their dream is electronic gadgets , then Steve of Apple inspires millions. 

5. During your tenure at IIMA, which part of the curriculum did you reason was the most vital?

Integrating incubator with regular academic programs is an initiative with long term impact to transform great educational institute into a great entrepreneurial university.

6. In your view, what is “Innovation”?

The product sold in large numbers is innovation.Innovation adds to the stock of public knowledge when large number of users benefit from it.

7. What are the critical success factors for a start up in an IT domain?
Time to market- concept to beta version should be completed in less than 6 months and with boot strapping. 

8. In your view what are the three technical innovations that affected lives of millions all over the globe?

Internet, semi conductors and vaccines.

9.. Which is your favorite movie?

Like the (rare )Indian science fiction movies.The current favourite is `Eega in telugu/Makki in Hindi'

I am puzzled that most students do not connect with their academic projects/ learning in B plans of their dream start-up. Teaching may be generic but learning is specific. Can it not be leveraged  when starting enterprise?

'TATA First Dot'- a platform for student start-ups

Apart from student start-ups, students with ideas yet not started a company can also apply. Mentoring support is provided by NEN network.

Eureka! 2011

The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay presents Eureka! 2011- an International Business Plan Competition. With prizes in excess of INR 2.4 million (USD 52000).The participating teams get a chance to receive intensive mentoring, along with content-rich feedback from leading corporates & entrepreneurs, legal & financial consultancy, and extensive networking opportunities.
Major Incentives:

• Winners to get cash prize of INR 5,00,000 and Runner- Up of INR 3,00,000.
• Angel Funding: Chance to pitch in front of a panel of Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists.
• Consultancy opportunities: Seminars on Legal and Financial issues from the field experts like Nishith Desai and Associates.
• Flamingo Ventures:Chance to be a part of "Inception" program which provides start-up investment before the start. The teams will be provided with mentoring, seed funding and incubation opportunities if selected.
• Startup Paathshaala: A 12-hour extensive startup training program inclusive of a startup kit and certificates,

SANKHYA EMBEDDED SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE CONTEST 2011

The competition is open to all students doing their PG, PhD or Research Assistants in the following discipline:

• Computer Science
• Electronics
• Electrical
• Students of Physics, Mathematics or Statistics.

CHALLENGE: Design an (original) processor ISA that can solve a problem (kernel code) for a particular application category using either the most compact code or the least number of cycles or both. Grab the chance to architect a processor ISA that may power millions of embedded devices!

Categories

• a) Super Computing
• b) Audio / Video Processing
• c) Networking - Traffic Cryptography; Network Traffic Packet Inspection; Wireless(LTE)CODECs

Winner Awards

• First winners entries in each category will receive a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and a certificate.
• All winners and runners-up will receive pre-incubation support at SANKHYA Rishikonda Development Center in Vishakhapatnam (Vizag Bay), AP for 6 months.
• All teams submitting a completed project will receive a certificate of participation.
• Sponsors may offer necessary tools for design support during the pre-incubation stage at no cost or on a deferred cost model.
• Pre-incubatees will also receive guidance and mentoring during the pre-incubation stage as well as receive introductions to investors.

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

Techfest 2010

Attended two events `Energize' and `Utkarsh' each attended by 20 teams of innovators. Energy and water were the focus areas of majority of the teams and all of them could identify real problems that could be solved with technological innovations.
Some of the innovations nearer to the market are: Solar cooker with hot plate for controlled cooking, Bicycle with standard dynamo for charging mobiles, Clay pipes for slow release of water to plants, small size Groundnut Decorticator, Areca nut leaf plate making machine, Fodder cutter with battery charging, single bullock driven weed remover, Biomass briquettes, impoved chula etc. Many teams worked on modern framing with moisture sensors, humidity sensors, water level indicators and even a SCADA for large scale implementation. Algae production, wave convetor, lawn mover with a different cutting system are some at concept stage
All the teams have come from outside IIT& NIT stream, which indicates improving base of engineering education. For details contact , student coordinator:
Nishank Gupta,Manager, Events, Techfest 2009-10, IIT Bombay.nishank@techfest.org

Clean-India

Four new graduates of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business have devised a way of cleaning up the water in Tirupur, India. Ravi Yekula, Baijnath Ramraika, Matt Dixon and Charles Ransler hatched Clean-India, a company aimed at water detoxification used by large textile companies during the dyeing process.Clean-India has created a bioreactor, a device that cultivates the type of algae that feeds on water pollutants, to combat the problem. The bioreactor operates in a closed-loop system, which allows Clean-India to generate its own source of algae to feed on pollutants.
Source: IndUs Business Journal

The March Madness for the Mind

The March Madness for the Mind Exhibition is a celebration of student E-Team innovation and entrepreneurship. Each year, top E-Teams (collaborating groups of college students, faculty and industry mentors) showcase their work in a science or technology museum during NCIIA's annual meeting, many unveiling their cutting-edge innovations to the public for the first time. Business Week carried a slide presentation of the finalists, many of them focused on developing country markets.

Welcome 2009 year of million creative ideas from India

Innovation is manifestation of a socio economic system and in India, a critical factor would be parental support. Are Indian middle class parents ready to drive their children towards the uncertain path of creativity & innovation? This is story one such a parent, who now represents the aspiring class of Indians- aspiring to see India as Innovative India.

T.A.Vijayan is a successful physician practicing in Chennai. He had a daughter Aparna and son Anandvishnu, both engineering college students. He encouraged his children to take the path of creativity and innovation.

Aparna is developing inhaler for insulin. She has a dream of developing insulin inhaler better than Pfizer’s exubra, a dry powder inhaler. She feels that this Pfizer’s product suffers from poor efficiency, long size and is patient unfriendly. What has she got to prove that she can do better job than Pfizer? She participated in Intel science discovery fair and won prizes. That made her confident to take challenge of solving complex problems in a simple way. With encouragement from her father , she and her brother developed an Asthma inhaler. They learnt that patenting is a first step and there is long way to go before product commercialization. She developed a prototype of a insulin spray and is prepared for the long haul. The sprayed insulin was chromatographically found to be active as normal insulin. She is clear what a good inhaler should be- it should be simple for illiterates & women, it should be compact so that one can hold it in hand and inhale and it should propel insulin in a free mist to reach the lungs without much mouth deposit. Animal trials have been completed and the innovator backed by her father is ready to invest in clinical trials.

Brother Anandvisnu is not keeping quiet. He is focused on developing a mosquito free air cooler. His dream is to make Delhi and other areas dengue free. He also participated in Intel Discovery fair in school, won awards in IIT Chennai.He developed a prototype of healthy Air cooler, filed for patents under PCT and is all set to test the cooler in coming summer.