• The intensive six-week summer programme in inventing, originally registered in the US as Invention Factory, will run for the first time in India at IITGN.
  • Ten (10) teams having two IIT students each, will conceive 10 inventions; will prototype and pitch them to file an US patent application.
  • Cooper Union Professors from the US to work directly with IIT students for four weeks during the programme.

The orientation week to a maiden six-week summer programme in inventing, Invent@IITGN kick-started today. The programme, originated in the US as Invention Factory, is being organised in India for the first time at IITGN. The selected 20 students in Invent@IITGN are from IITs across the country including IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, IIT Jammu and IIT Gandhinagar.

The students will work as teams of two, and each of the 10 teams will conceive 10 inventions, prototype them, “pitch” them, write and file a US patent application. There is a constant need for smart design inventions to ease our day-to-day life and work. The focus of all these inventions will be its utility to address a particular societal or consumer need. The teams will compete for the first prize of ₹2 lakh for Best Invention and the second prize of ₹1 lakh for Second Best Invention. The six weeks programme will run from June 18 to July 27.

The founders of the original programme in the US, Cooper Union Professors Alan Wolf and Eric Lima will be spending over four weeks at IITGN to work directly with the students, alongside IITGN professors Vineet Vashista and Nithin George to train and coach them on how to invent and develop their ideas into best practices.

The selected students will be provided free hostel lodging and meals for the entire period. Each team will also receive a budget of up to ₹50,000 for materials to design the prototype of the invention. All participants who successfully complete the programme will also receive a stipend of ₹10,000 with a certificate of participation.

This is the first programme of its kind in the US and has received rave reviews. This highly successful summer programme is now starting at IITGN. We hope it will spawn student inventors in India to think creatively and invent solutions to day-to-day technical problems in life.

Ruyintan Mehta

Alumunus of IIT Bombay and a serial entrepreneur