Mumbai: The best-laid plans of students will now be nurtured at a new incubation centre for entrepreneurs and innovators at the Mumbai University (MU) Kalina campus. The centre will help students in development of niche areas and design products for specific applications and will create an ecosystem for students and faculty to transcend ideas into start-up companies.
In an attempt to cultivate entrepreneurship and promote commercialisation of technical knowledge, in tune with the state’s Innovative Start-up Policy 2018, MU has received a Rs 5 crore grant from the Maharashtra State Innovative Society. Students will now get an opportunity to work with well-known industries and companies, as they have agreed to extend support and guidance.
Students will be motivated to generate ideas through the Avishkar programme. Professors and research scholars portrayed their innovative ideas through posters, which emphasised the storage of food and vegetables without preservatives, another was on the deposition of thin films or coatings, while there were posters on the use of gold nano particles based on the cheapest and efficient bar code system for authentication and identification of non-living goods. Advanced functional nano materials have been developed for high capacity energy storage devices.
The incubation centre will be set up in a 10,000 square foot area of the Green Technology building. Pre-incubation activities will involve experimental learning bases, promotion of design thinking and creativity, developing understanding of new technologies, scaling research with students and faculty support for business, equipping students with entrepreneurship and finance skills and developing skills in the digital world of business.
