To provide students from Arts, Commerce, and Science colleges across Maharashtra with greater opportunities and platforms for innovative research, Innovation Council Labs will soon be established in traditional degree colleges under the guidance of the Minister of Higher and Technical Education. This announcement was made by the Director of Higher Education, Dr. Shailendra Deolankar, on Saturday.
Dr. Deolankar was speaking at the inauguration of Innovate You Techathon 3.0, organized by the Innovation Foundation.
Among those present were Kalpesh Yadav, President of Innovation Foundation; Dr. Pradeep Mane, Principal of AISSM's Institute of Information Technology; winners of Techathon 2.0 Ganesh Khose and Tejas Yadav; Prof. Devendra Itole; Narendra Gadge; Pranav Wadkar; Vilas Shinde; Nikunj Owhal and others.
This year, Innovate You Techathon 3.0 has witnessed participation from 450 teams comprising more than 1,700 competitors, who will work continuously for 24 hours to transform innovative ideas into practical solutions. The competition is being supported by AISSM’s IOIT.
Dr. Deolankar stated that during his student years, such platforms were not available, and as a result, many innovative ideas could not progress. He emphasized that the Innovation Foundation’s Techathon has become a strong platform for students to present innovative concepts, contributing to socially relevant research and nurturing researchers.
He further noted that hackathons typically attract students from professional courses, while those from traditional streams often receive limited opportunities. To bridge this gap, the National Education Policy promotes interdisciplinary education. Taking this forward, Innovation Council Labs will soon be established in Arts, Commerce, and Science colleges across the state. In the first phase, such labs will be set up in 1,132 aided colleges under the Directorate of Higher Education, followed by support for unaided colleges.
Kalpesh Yadav stated that the first edition of Innovate You Techathon had participation from 230 teams across various states, and the event has now expanded to 450 teams. He emphasized that beyond raising student issues, it is equally important to help solve them and foster entrepreneurship among youth. The objective of the initiative is not merely competition but to develop innovative researchers and job-creating entrepreneurs.
Dr. Pradeep Mane remarked that Techathon 3.0 has emerged as the number one competition in the state, with students from various colleges participating with groundbreaking ideas. He highlighted that if India’s vision of becoming a developed nation is to be realized, researchers capable of solving social problems are essential, and such competitions significantly contribute to that goal.
Ganesh Khose shared that during Techathon 2.0, his team received a valuable platform to present their “Aquadro” project concept of developing a water-surface two-wheeler. With the support of the Innovation Foundation and the government, they are now moving towards project completion and have achieved business turnover exceeding ₹1 crore within a year.
The program was compared by Balusha Mane. Soham Mhatre, Sanket Baratkakke, Suresh Vetal, Kaustubh Redekar, and Ninad Futane played significant roles in organizing the event.
Dr. Deolankar further assured that Innovate You Techathon should be expanded to the state level. Under the guidance of Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, similar competitions will be conducted at every divisional level in Maharashtra. Selected ideas and winners from these regional competitions will be invited to Pune for final presentations. The Higher and Technical Education Department will extend full support to the Innovation Foundation for this initiative.
