From Bacteria Batteries To Electricity From Kitchens– KPIT Sparkle 2018 Had Them All!

KPIT Technologies is a company that specialises in IT consulting, and product engineering, and recently, KPIT Sparkle, the fourth edition of its national design and development innovation contest for engineering and science students, came to an end.

KPIT partnered with the Department of Science and Technology of Government of India for the event. This year, participants were invited to develop next-generation technologies—applying artificial intelligence, new materials, and cybersecurity—to provide greener, safer and user-convenient solutions to energy and transportation sectors.

The organisers received more than 12,000 registrations from over 600 colleges of engineering and science, and finally, 30 of the 1500 teams were shortlisted for the finals, and a prize money of Rs 21 lakh was up for grabs!

The Platinum awardee would receive Rs 10 lakh; the Gold awardee would receive Rs 5 lakh, the Silver awardees would receive Rs 2.5 lakh each. There was also a prize for “the most popular innovation,” and the awardee would receive Rs 1 lakh.

The grand finale saw working prototypes and life-sized models of solutions presented by the 30 finalists to jurors comprising of eminent industry experts, technologists, academicians, and business leaders, and these ideas display an enormous potential in transforming the energy and transportation landscape of the country. The five winners were selected from these finalists.

The Platinum award was taken home by Team Electrodes from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur for developing a flexible and disposable battery by using bacteria from sewage water.

The mindblowing innovation is the brainchild of Ramya Veerubhotla, a PhD student in the Department of Biotechnology, IIT Kharagpur.

The bio-battery ingeniously houses bacteria in its electrodes, which forms chemical oxidation of organic fuel producing current. The battery can be powered by any organic liquids like sewage water to urine and although the output range of this device is just about a few microwatts, stacking multiple devices can further boost the power and drive several practical applications.

The Gold prize winners were Team SmartGear from the Sahyadri College of Engineering & Management, Mangalore, who developed a smart helmet for motorcycles, which provides accident alerts along with details of the location to emergency contact lists saved in the app.

The two silver awardees were Team Nanoknocks and Team Thermo. The former is a team from the Pune Vidyarthi Griha’s College of Engineering, and have developed a solution that solves the problem of massive oil spills and filtering the water up to drinkable level by using new material.

The latter is a team from Dr DY Patil College of Engineering, Dr DY Patil Institute of Engineering, Management & Research, and Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering, Pune. They have developed a device that converts waste heat from kitchen stoves into electricity using thermoelectric modules (TEG).

The winner of the Most Popular project award was Team PathPredictor from National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, and they developed an en-routing and accident prevention self-learning system. They were selected based on public voting from across the country.

Indeed the KPIT Sparkle 2018 saw some great young minds coming together to put forth a viable solution and showcase the future of of technology in energy and transportation.

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