Hyderabad, Aug 26 (PTI) A menstrual hygiene product for the visually challenged, a cart to help vendors retain the freshness of vegetables and a heat-powered air blower that reduces indoor air pollution were some of the ideas behind the innovations featured at the SmartIDEAthon-2023 here.
The event was organised by the GITAM (deemed-to-be) University, Hyderabad, sponsored by Startup India, a part of the government’s initiative to foster a start-up ecosystem in India.
Anup Paikaray, who won the SmartIDEAthon-2023 for his heat-powered air blower, is a student at the Odisha University of Technology and Research, Bhubaneswar. His initial research involved meeting with people to understand the problem of indoor air pollution caused by mud stoves. He held long discussions with several members of his potential customer base to understand the issue.
“You always have to ask open-ended questions which open up the customers to having discussions. That is how I could see their point of view, their journey with regards to the problem and I got insights I did not find on the internet or in any article,” Paikaray said.
His heat-powered air blower enhances combustion efficiency and reduces emissions from a mud stove, lowering indoor air pollution.
GITAM students K Ushasri Devi and P Sushma Devi founded Beye, a menstrual hygiene product designed specially for the visually challenged which alerts them when they have a period by vibrating.
For the duo, qualitative analysis skills were critical. So they approached a psychology professor at GITAM to learn the skills. Ushasri and Sushma said since they were dealing with a sensitive issue such as menstruation, they needed to make their research participants comfortable.
“We need to get into our customers’ shoes and make them feel comfortable first. Only then could we start to talk to them about problems they faced due to periods,” Ushasri Devi said.
The duo spoke to women at the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Vishakhapatnam.
To address the problem of plastic waste, Vineet Kumar from the Sershah Engineering College in Bihar had to go deep into the world of academic research.
“Exploring research papers and getting in touch with the right professors played a critical role in developing an effective solution and thus serving the society,” he said. He collaborated with researchers at IIT-Mandi and IIT-Patna to create Polyfueler, an innovation that converts plastic waste into fuel.
He also carried out surveys of his potential customers — industries, transport owners and farmers — to further his business idea.
“I’ve done surveys. I’ve visited industries and given our samples to them for testing. I also connected with IIP, Dehradun, and other institutes to get approval for our technologies,” he said.
“I also did surveys in my rural locality regarding the kind of plastic waste being generated and what I need to do to convert it into fuel,” he said.
Meanwhile, the TechRedi team from Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy Women’s College, Hyderabad, poured over government websites on agriculture for their business idea. They gathered information about the optimum temperature and humidity required to maintain the freshness of vegetables sold by street vendors.
They have created a closed cart for produce sold by street vendors in order to maintain its freshness, and thereby prevent a drop in prices. They also conducted verbal interviews with street vendors regarding the problems they faced.
The SmartIDEAthon 2023 saw several students pitch their business ideas, vying for a Rs 2 lakh start-up capital and a sponsored trip to Boston for mentorship and business coaching.