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Indian Express
6 days ago
- Science
- Indian Express
From generating solar energy at night to AI learning tool: Meet the student winners of Gujarat's startup scheme
Think solar energy and the first thought that comes to the mind is daylight. But Saurabh Rathod, a Class X student of Government Secondary and Higher Secondary School in Ahwa, Dang, has an idea of 'Smart Solar', which is capable of generating energy even during the night. 'Unlike traditional solar panels that only work when exposed to sunlight, our smart solar panel incorporates Peltier modules, which are installed on the backside of the panel. During the day, as the solar panel heats up due to sunlight, the Peltier module captures thermal energy and contributes to power generation. At night, it continues to generate energy by utilising the temperature difference between the warm surface of the panel and the cooler nighttime environment. This innovation ensures continuous energy generation, both during the day and night, making it a more efficient and reliable solution for sustainable power,' he says. Rathod is among 175 school students from Gujarat to receive a grant of Rs 20,000 from the state government under Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP). Another recipient of the grant is Chirag Joshi, a Class X student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Moriya, Banaskantha, who has developed 'Student Super Power' — an AI-powered learning tool that helps students learn in a way that 'suits them best'. The 15-year-old says he plans to take his project forward in a big way. 'In a school setup, every child cannot get a personalised learning experience. 'Student Super Power' uses smart AI agents to understand how a student learns, identify their weak areas, create a customised study plan, teach in an adaptive way, and provide practice exercises,' he tells The Indian Express. 'This system ensures that each student gets a personalised learning experience, just like a private tutor but at a large scale. Built using AI models, it aims to make education more effective and accessible. The goal is to provide quality learning for every child,' Joshi adds. The scheme was expanded as SSIP 2.0 in 2022 to include school students from Class VI-XII for their ideas with the aim to create a 'start-up mindset' among children at the grassroots level. Till June this year, 850 projects of school students – an equal mix of government and private schools — from across the state have been approved under SSIP 2.0. The state government plans to reach 1,000 students by August and 5,000 students by the end of the first semester, by October-November, this year. Among these 850 shortlisted students, officials stated, the highest number, 175, are from Ahmedabad followed by around 125 from Surat. 'While the SSIP funds and handholds startups, SSIP 2.0 aims to build a start-up community at the school level. We are not expecting school students to create or develop a product but are encouraging them to at least have a viable idea of innovation. There are brainstorming workshops on how to create a startup. Once the ideas are approved, the grant is disbursed for which we inculcate a habit of account-keeping by the students on how much they have spent on what in creating that idea,' Ankit Thakor, the state-government appointed Startup Ecosystem Advisor and School Project Management Unit (PMU) operating under the Education Department, tells The Indian Express. On how these workshops are conducted, Thakor says, 'As part of an awareness drive, School PMU conducts startup brainstorming workshops across all districts in Gujarat. These workshops bring together students from Classes IX till XII who have already showcased notable innovations at the district, state, or national level, motivating them to assess the potential of their innovations and convert them into startups.' Under the SSIP 2.0, the School PMU aims to disburse a total grant of ₹33 crore to support over 16,000 student innovators across Gujarat by March 2027. Thakor says most of these students are actively working on their startup ideas, continuing to develop and refine their projects with consistent efforts towards transforming their innovative concepts into impactful solutions. 'We also help conduct post-workshop sessions for networking with the local startups in their districts,' he adds. -Dhwanit Mehta, Hillwoods School, Gandhinagar, has an idea to develop an application or website to create a peer group learning environment where like-minded students can study together. It also aims to provide guidance by students as well as expert teachers. Overall, the application or website is aimed to help improve the students' journey towards their final exam such as JEE, NEET, etc. -Dhruvi Mahla, Government Secondary School Khanpur, Navsari, has come up with the idea of a 'Wireless Charging Car'. As the adoption of electric vehicles continues to rise rapidly, wireless charging technology is emerging as a convenient and time-saving solution, she says. 'By eliminating the need for manual plug-in charging, the idea allows users to simply park their vehicle over a charging pad, thus saving valuable time and enhancing the overall user experience. This innovation is expected to play a significant role in the future of sustainable transportation,' she adds. -Kashish Thakkar, Aim International School, Ahmedabad, has a project 'Automatic Fire Fighting Robot' for places where sudden fire erupts and fire fighters are not able to reach the spot easily. -Het Kanjiya, Divine School, Rajkot, has come up with a 'Smart Stick' for the visually impaired that has a combined system of obstacle avoidance and GPS. Smart blind sticks are innovative and effective tools designed to assist visually impaired individuals in navigating their surroundings with greater safety and confidence. By integrating sensors, electronics, and intelligent programming, these devices enable users to detect obstacles and move independently within their environment.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
200 faculty members of engg colleges await grade pay revision in Gujarat
Ahmedabad: More than 200 qualified faculty members in the state's govt engineering colleges continue to wait for their academic grade pay (AGP) revision, despite the career advancement scheme (CAS) being in effect for over a year. These educators, who actively support programmes like SSIP, Vibrant Gujarat, Semicon, G20 summits, hackathons and Skill India, say they find the inordinate wait frustrating. Following a govt resolution in March 2024 regarding CAS benefits for appointments made after Jan 1, 2016, the Commissionerate of Technical Education (CTE) sought applications through the Kozent portal in Aug 2024. Although 80% of applications have been reviewed, various administrative and procedural challenges prevent the issuance of AGP orders. Former govt polytechnic faculty, who joined the engineering colleges through Gujarat Public Service Commission recruitments, face AGP denial due to their previous service being unrecognized. Furthermore, faculty members obtaining PhD qualifications after their initial AGP (Rs 6,000-7,000) have not received the one-year relaxation stipulated in AICTE's Jan 2016 guidelines for AGP progression to Rs 8,000. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo You Can Also Check: Ahmedabad AQI | Weather in Ahmedabad | Bank Holidays in Ahmedabad | Public Holidays in Ahmedabad Faculty members who earned additional qualifications after their appointments and filed post-facto NOC applications in Jan 2025 remain in limbo. Additionally, those who have previous adhoc or regular service experience face delays in pay protection, pending verification from the Pay Verification Unit (PVU), Gandhinagar. Teaching staff associations have requested the education department and the CTE to address the pending cases by July 31, indicating possible statewide demonstrations if their concerns remain unaddressed.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
VNSGU students get 3 design patents
Surat: Students at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) have been granted three more patents for their designs. These come after guidance from VNSGU's incubation centre and its student startup and innovation policy (SSIP). Of the three patents, two have been granted to students of the interior design department, while one went to a student of the information and communication technology (ICT) department. The product designs that have received patents are a courtyard chair, a Moroccan light and s six-wheel chain rover. The courtyard chair was developed by third-year student Jaydeep Makwana under the guidance of Ankit Changawala, Ajay Mistry and R Nilkanth Burkhawala. "I made a chair which comes in parts and can be easily fitted together when you want to relax. You are easily dismantled when you do not want to use the chair and save space. You can store the parts in a small box," said Makwana. Shreya Faganiya, who completed her Bachelor of International Design degree recently, received a patent for the Moroccan light. She developed it under the guidance of Ankit Changawala and Snehal Patel. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 기미 잡티, 시중 제품에 속지마세요 두아이연구원 Undo Faganiya said: "Normal Moroccan lights cast a big shadow on the walls, which is loud sometimes. Many times, this light throws a bold shape on the wall or tile. To avoid this, I used a partially opaque sheet inside the light, so the shadow has a calm and relaxing feel. I used brass all over to give it a luxury look. Users will also be able to easily change the bulb." The third patent was granted for the six-wheel chain rover to Komal Tomar, Rutika Sinha and Krisha Sheth under the guidance of Dr Hitesh Lad of the ICT department. Dr Lad told TOI: "Our device will identify the crop and cut the weeds out of it. The device is small and can be useful even if there is a small space between two rows of crops. It will save on labour costs. At present, we have used a camera in the device, but we will replace it with a sensor soon. We will also look for a product patent in the future."
