Vishwakarma Award for Engineering Innovation (India)

Founded by the © Maker Bhavan Foundation, the award incentivises talented student innovators and tinkerers interested in developing scalable technological solutions that tackle real-world problems and boost India’s economy.

Vishwakarma prize 2024 is organized by Maker Bhavan Foundation in partnership with ITIC (IIT Hyderabad technology Incubation Center). The theme for 2024 is Water & Sanitation, Green Technology & Smart Mobility.

Goal 

• The Foundation goal is to incentivise student teams to build innovative solutions to real world problems in the domain of Water and Sanitation, Green Technology and Smart Mobility.  Shortlisted teams gain financial support to build their prototype, mentorship and guidance from domain experts, and a platform to showcase their solutions. There is further support available for selected finalist teams who the Judges select under “best invention” in each of the tracks. Teams working on industry problem statement sub-tracks have the opportunity to secure internships with their partners.

Themes 

• Water and Sanitation
  • Purification of Water
  • Wastewater Management
  • Water Conservation
• Green Technology
  • Low Carbon Footprint Solution
  • Green Hydrogen
  • Battery Technology
  • Power Storage
  • Lifestyle for Environment
• Smart Mobility
  • Unmanned Vehicles- airborne or underwater with targeting capabilities [Drones]
  • Surface Mobility [ADAS(Advanced Driver Assistance Systems)]
  • Industry Problem Statement [Smart Mobility Using Dual Robotic Arms]
  • Industry Problem Statement [Camera-Based Navigation of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)]

Prize Information 

• Best Invention: INR 100,000/- ( maximum of 3 awardees)
• Summer Internship 2025: Participants in industry problem statement sub-tracks have a chance to secure internships with their esteemed partners: Addverb, Reico, and Alkyl Amines.
• Certification: All finalist teams will get Certificates and an additional 10,000/- from the Foundation. They may also request for Letters of Recommendation (LOR) from mentors and selection committee members.
• Residential Program at IIT Hyderabad:18 finalist teams will spend a week at IIT Hyderabad, receiving intensive entrepreneurial training.

You Should Apply Because

• You are interested in expanding your job prospects in key emerging sectors.
• You want to experience working in an interdisciplinary team that is valuable engineering experience critical for your professional career.
• You are interested in entrepreneurship and developing a marketable product.
• You are interested in developing an innovative solution that is relevant and has the potential to impact millions.

Eligibility Criteria 

• A team of a maximum of four student members.
• Team members need to be Undergraduate/ Postgraduate/ PhD students from any govt. recognized Indian engineering college or university.
• They will group UG and PG students separately. Prior research work by a student team will not be recognized. Teams will be judged on the specific prototyping work they did during the competition.
• The solution must have a significant hardware component and has to be demonstrated onsite at the finals.

For more information, visit Maker Bhavan Foundation.