Srinagar: The Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneur Development Centre of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar in collaboration with Start-up Kashmir hosted an event “Idea Challenge-The Future World” on Tuesday to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Valley and to boost the morale of budding innovators.
The Srinagar Municipal Corporation, J&K Tourism, Kashmir Observer and food outlet Kathi Junction were the key sponsors.
The Chief Guest for the event was Prof. MD Mir, VC, Central University of Kashmir. Shahid Ansari, founder Start-up Kashmir, Irfan Shahmiri, CEO Chinar International; Ashraf Mir, President FCIK; Talat Parvez Rohella, DC Kulgam; Prof Ajaz Zargar, Dean R&C, NIT Srinagar and Prof. A.R. Dar, NIT Srinagar were the eminent personalities present on the occasion.
The event commenced with a welcome address by Prof. Saad Parvez, Head of IIED Centre at NIT Srinagar who welcomed the participants and the guests to the landmark event and urged the participants to treat the platform as the means to an end, a step in a long journey.
The day was also graced by the presence of many established entrepreneurs of the valley who addressed the students and motivated them to battle all odds so as to work towards realizing their dreams of entrepreneurship; Saheel Yaqoob Alaqband, Asst. Director, MSME; Nadeem Ahmad Dar, Executive Member of National Innovation Foundation; Abdul Hamid Bhat, CEO, Raheem Greens; Urfee Mustafa, Owner, HVAC; Zia Ashai, Founder of ‘Supertherm’ Heating System manufacturing plant; Manzoor Ahmad Khan, Owner, Jupiton Geysers; Zufa Iqbal, Winner of the Ignite Award 2016 for her Namda Rolling Machine; being a few among them. Anjali Gupta and Sharath Nayar represented Start-up Kashmir in the event and introduced ‘The Better You’ program that will be extended to other universities and colleges across the state.
A total of 10 participants, hailing from different parts of the Valley and even outside the Valley, presented their ideas in front of the jury. The ideas were all out of the box, efficient and implementable, said Shahid Ansari, adding it was a tough competition.
Murshid Malik from Kashmir Govt. Polytechnic College bagged the First Prize for his idea of Ergonomic Study Chair made of cane. The Second Prize was won by Shahrukh Mushtaq of SSM College of Engineering for his idea of Inkless Marker Board while Ubaid Manzoor, Ex Student of NIT Srinagar for his concept of Al Birra Services and Nikhil Kumar of NIT Srinagar for his idea of Green Innovation Park shared the Third Prize.
All the guests, the Chief Guest and the entrepreneurs were presented mementos by NIT Srinagar, following which they further enlightened the students about the hardships faced by an entrepreneur in the socio- economic scenario in this era and a few decades ago.
Ansari said the event was a huge success, giving the entrepreneurial race of the valley a new boost and infusing new life into the spirit of innovation, improvisation and invention.
All the highs and lows and the problems faced by a person with an entrepreneurial drive were discussed by experts in the field. It set new bench marks for the promotion of the innovative instinct in the valley.
