<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="46.2%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/408995.cms" alt="/photo/408995.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">CHANDIGARH: Expanding the scope of science beyond textbooks and research projects, IIT-Bombay has become a nursery for budding entrepreneurs.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">A godsend for engineering graduates wishing to set up their own ventures, the IIT has launched a unique technology incubation programme.
The objective is to translate knowledge to successful commercial ventures benefiting the common man.</span><br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -6"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="34.7%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" color:="" ffffff="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">RELATED STORIES</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" fbfbfb=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/387893.cms" target="_blank">IIT-Bombay to set up centre in Goa</a><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/403275.cms" target="_blank">India: The big idea hub of patents</a><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/403450.cms" target="_blank">Challenge from China: IITians told to be ready</a><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/407253.cms" target="_blank">Techies say, those were the days...</a></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Under the programme, which is being overseen by IIT''s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, those wishing to set up their own commercial ventures are required to submit a business plan to the institute. The plan is then scrutinised by a team of experts and a go-ahead is given after they are satisfied with the viability of the proposal. Once selected, the student gets the technical support from core IIT faculty and starts on the business venture.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Interacting with </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">The Times of India</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""> on the sidelines of the Indian Science Congress here, IIT-Bombay Director Ashok Misra said, "The idea is to help our students transform knowledge gained in classrooms to practical use benefiting the common man. We are providing space to students to start their firms in the IIT campus. We are providing the technical support needed to incubate their technology. The incubation period has been kept at around 18 months. By then if a project is commercially viable, it would be able to attract venture capital and become independent and move out of IIT. This provides a completely new ambience for development of new technology."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""><formid=367815></formid=367815></span><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br />Silently set under way about two years back, the technology incubation programme has benefited 13 companies already. Four out of these 13 firms have even moved out of the IIT campus. While three of these attracted venture capital, the fourth venture reportedly bagged such huge volumes of orders that it was able to move out.<br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -6"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="34.7%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" color:="" ffffff="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">RELATED STORIES</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" fbfbfb=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/387893.cms" target="_blank">Mumbai IIT to set up centre in Goa</a><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/403275.cms" target="_blank">India: The big idea hub of patents</a><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/403450.cms" target="_blank">Challenge from China: IITians told to be ready</a><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""></span><br /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/407253.cms" target="_blank">Techies say, those were the days...</a></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The head of the School of Biosciences and Bioengineering at IIT-Bombay, Prof Jayesh R Bellare, said the scope of the incubation programme is now being expanded. "We started off with IT but are now diversifying to non-IT areas as well. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">These include biotechnology, fluid dynamics, materials technology, biomedical engineering, robotics, diagnostics and microelectronics apart from other areas. This gives an opportunity for the faculty to benefit as well as though many of our ideas have been patented, we couldn''t commercialise it. The programme allows us to reap benefits of spin-off technology," he said. Six of the 30 business plans submitted to IIT have been short-listed last year.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Misra said that since these companies have an "umbilical connection" with IIT, a share of their earnings would also fill IIT coffers. Centre''s department of science and technology, ministry of information and technology and Ramesh Wadhwani Foundation are supporting the incubation programme.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""><formid=367815></formid=367815></span><br /></div> </div>
