An ‘Idea Contest’ was held at S.P College Srinagar as part of the two-day national workshop on ‘Entrepreneurship, Innovations and Startups’ organised by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (CIED) of the college in collaboration with J&K Science Technology and Innovation Council (JKST&IC), on November 15-16.
More than 200 participants joined the event in offline and online modes, while innovative ideas were invited from people across J&K UT for the ‘Idea Contest’ which was conceived to encourage aspiring innovators to present their ideas for award of seed money by the JKSTC&IC.
Assistant Professor Department of Botany Dr Shabana Aslam who was also the Convener of the Workshop, said that 38 innovators presented their ideas and prototypes before a four-member technical committee, which, after proper evaluation, recommended 10 ideas for award of seed money for their further development as prototypes.
The event was inaugurated by Commissioner Secretary, Science and Technology Department, Jammu and Kashmir Government Saurabh Bhagat, in presence of College Principal Prof (Dr) Khursheed A Khan, the Chief Patron of the Workshop, Prof Anil K Gupta, Founder NIF, GIAN and other officials of the JKST&IC including Dr Nasir A Shah, Additional Director and Mr Bilal Ahmad, Joint Director, besides Dr Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat, Additional Director, Science and Technology Department, J&K.
The four-member technical committee comprised Dr Kowsar Majid, Head, Department of Chemistry, NIT Srinagar; Dr Jan Shabir, Head, Department of Physics, S.P. College; Dr Shahid A Mir, Head, Projects, Create International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology, Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Syed Nadeem, General Manager, GIAN, J&K Chapter.
A MoU was signed between CIED-SP College and JKST&IC by Principal Professor (Dr) Khurshid Ahmed Khan and Saurabh Bhagat, respectively, to further promote startup culture among students.
Dr Tabasum Ismail presented a workshop report at the valedictory session, while Dr Shabana Aslam delivered the vote of thanks.
Earlier, at the inaugural session, Saurabh Bhagat was the chief guest who underscored the importance of such collaborative workshops to help develop the innovation and entrepreneurship culture among people.
Prof Khan delivered the welcome address and thanked the JKST&IC for collaborating with SP College.
He also complimented CIED for organising the programme.
Padma Shri Anil Kumar Gupta was the keynote speaker.
The proceedings of the inaugural session were conducted by Dr Shabana Aslam, while Prof Magaray Ajaz Ahmad delivered the vote of thanks.
The participants to the event came from various institutions including Faculty of Medicine, Veterinary Sciences, SKAUST-K; IUST Awantipora; BGSBU Rajouri; Kashmir University; University of Jammu; Colleges, Higher Secondary and Secondary Schools.
The resource person for the first technical session was Dr Saad Pervez, Head, IIED Centre NIT Srinagar, while the resource person for second technical session was Dr Parvez Ahmad Mir, Director, Centre for innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (CIED), IUST.
On the second day, the lead lecture was delivered by Prof B K Chakravarthy, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay (in online mode), while Syed Nadeem, General Manager GIAN, J&K Chapter, gave a presentation on ‘How To Ideate’.
The members of the workshop convening committee included Dr Tabasum Ismail (Chemistry), Dr Qazi Ashiq Hussain (EVS), Prof Zaffar Majeed Rather (IT), Prof Magaray Aijaz (IT), Prof Abdul Rouf Farooqi (EVS), Dr Samina Bashir (Biochemistry), Prof Shahid Ahmed Wani Member/ Coordinator Hospitality and Protocol.
The event proved to be a significant contributor to raising awareness on startup culture and for drawing the attention of aspiring innovators towards the financial opportunities available in J&K for good innovative ideas.
Such workshops must continue to guide and encourage young innovators to become job-creators in this competitive world. The organisers deserve special credit for the successful event.