IIT Mandi iHub and HCI Foundation Organizes HIVE Conclave 2023: A Pioneering Forum that Witnessed Healthy Blend of Participation from Research & Industry

The inaugural "HIVE Conclave" at Hotel Pride Plaza in New Delhi, organized by the HCI Foundation and Indian Institute of Technology Mandi iHub, came to an end today. 

The purpose of the conclave was to encourage cooperation between academics and business executives. Numerous researchers and business executives attended the nation's first-ever event of its kind. "Leading through problem statement: Following it with Solution Pitch" was the conclave's theme. The ideal collaboration between industry and research to use technology to solve real-world issues was discussed by the participants.

Attended By Many Industrial Leaders

Among the industry luminaries who spoke at the event were Anu Pillai, digital partner at Wipro, Sridharan Thyagrajan, founder of Bumo3dr (Singapore), KR Venkatadri, CTO of Tata Chemicals, and Anil Viswas, general manager of Open Innovation Startups at Samsung Research. 

The participants took part in talks, presentations, and discussions, among other activities. M. Balakrishnan, of IIT Delhi, gave a keynote address on the topic of "simplicity fostered by user-centric designs." Lieutenant General Anil Kapoor delivered a speech titled "Human-machine interface: A design thinking perspective from lab to market," while Professor Anirudha Joshi of IIT Bombay discussed "Design technology solutions for and with Indian emergent users."

On November 18, Laxmidhar Behera, the director of IIT Mandi, gave the inaugural speech. He gave IIT Mandi iHub props for their skill development program, which emphasizes skilling and post-training employment.Behera declared, "IIT Mandi is leading the way in exciting new developments in human-computer interaction. We concentrate not only on theoretical research but also on real, commercially viable products. We are leading four large-scale projects in conjunction with a group of researchers, which include the critical development of an air ambulance that is made in India, an inventive artificial scheme, and a bio-manufacturing initiative for printable food.

More than 180 students have received skill training from the IIT Mandi iHub, along with employment opportunities. Akhilesh Gupta, the secretary of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), was the main guest at the conclave's opening ceremony. "The industry has always been playing a supporting role in public-private partnership programs implemented across India in recent years, whereas the majority of these initiatives were led by academia," the speaker stated. To be successful and significant, it should, however, work the other way around; modern startups and other industry participants need to take the lead in fostering innovation and impact.