While many major sporting leagues today, from the IPL to the Premier League, are a remarkable amalgamation of sport and technology, what about India’s very own kabaddi?
Students at Mangalore Institute of Technology and Engineering, Moodbidri, may have something to offer to the high-intensity game — an intelligent mat system that detects player contact in real time, identifying touches, tackles and scoring events, and could thus help the referee make accurate decisions.
Christened ‘Tech Kabaddi’, it was one of the 60 projects from ten tier-2 and tier-3 colleges in Karnataka displayed at the New Age Innovation Network Conclave at International Institute of Information Technology – Bangalore (IIIT-B).
The student-developed technologies displayed at the exhibition addressed challenges across healthcare, environment, agriculture, digital transformation, and social innovation.
Compendium
A compendium on the student innovators, startups, and institutions was released at the conclave. Lakshmi Jagannathan, CEO, IIIT-B Innovation Centre, noted that the conclave was a culmination of the creativity and technical excellence of students from cities and towns beyond Bengaluru.
“It highlights how young innovators are leveraging emerging technologies to solve complex societal challenges and contribute to India’s journey towards becoming a resilient, technology-driven nation,” she added.
A large number of projects displayed at the exhibition focused on agri-tech. Some of these included liquid nano-fertiliser developed from sewage water, paper made from areca waste, an automated harvesting system that identifies and plucks ripe areca nuts, a smart livestock management system, a community-owned machinery bank that enables small farmers to share modern agricultural equipment, smart storage system for areca nuts, and drone for precision pesticide spraying, among others.
Projects also featured a rescue robot for high-precision operations in confined, hazardous spaces, a health-monitoring smart jacket, potable water from atmospheric moisture, an AI-enabled self-learning Braille device, smart nutraceutical solution developed from seaweeds, solar sun tracker and so on.
Nurturing student innovators
The New Age Innovation Network (NAIN) programme is a Government of Karnataka initiative under the Startup Policy 2025–2030, conceived with the idea of nurturing student innovators and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship within engineering institutions, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Students are encouraged to identify local challenges and develop frugal, technology-driven solutions, supported by mentorship in product development and entrepreneurial thinking.
Under this scheme, 50 new NAIN centres will be established in higher education institutions outside Bengaluru Urban, and each NAIN 2.0 centre is eligible for funding support of up to ₹5 lakh per student project, covering a maximum of 10 projects annually over a period of three years.
IIIT-B served as the anchor institute for six colleges, including Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere, JAIN College Deemed to be University, Ramanagara, Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, College of Fisheries, Mangaluru, Mangalore Institute of Technology and Engineering, Moodbidri and St Philomena College (Autonomous), Puttur. In the coming year, the Institute will anchor nine centres.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)