Udaipur’s Engg college bags 2nd rank for promoting technical innovations
Udaipur : College of Technology and Engineering (CTAE) of the Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT) has taken a lead in technical innovations and researches. The college which is one of the 13 centres of the PRISM project, sponsored by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, left behind premier institutes like IIT Kanpur and Kharagpur to bag the second position in the field of promoting and encouraging individual and group initiatives for technical innovations.
Devices and agricultural implements that are helpful in completing tedious jobs easily, have been funded and promoted by the college. Mada Sai Srinivas, a research student, has developed bael pulp extractor which reduces human labour. The extractor is very useful for scooping out of the pulp from the fruit. The device costs about Rs 2 lakhs and can be used to extract pulp from 10 to 12 bael fruit in one hour. Another researcher, Sheetal, developed a mehndi picker. The harvesting of mehndi leaves is very laborious and expensive but with the device, saves labour and time.
Innovator Madan lal Mehta developed Solar powered micro irrigation applicator costing around Rs 2 Lakh. It can be used for irrigation and for fertilizer application. It can be easily transported from one place to another. Thus, in the remotest area, solar energy driven micro irrigation equipment (drip irrigation) can be used. One research student, Srinivas Girijal, has developed a very useful device to destalk the chilli. The unit can destalk 50 kg chilli per hour. Another machine developed by a research student Sunil Rathore can be used to convert dung into a powder and placing it along with the seed.
This reduces the time and duration of spreading the compost into the field. Innovator Abhijeet Khedakar ‘s implement helps in automatically transplanting vegetable plants. “ There are large number of technological innovations and researches going on in the university which would reduce the labour of the farmers and help in timely completion of agricultural operations. At present, a number of students are working on innovations and research which will enable us to learn about new research in many areas in the coming times. It is heartening, inspiring and encouraging that PRISM project in Rajasthan is helping farmers” VC Narendra Singh Rathore told .
“The CTAE centre has assisted 50 innovators in getting financial assistance of more than 1.5 crore rupees. The project funding is given for converting innovation to prototype and model, so that innovator can convert his original ideas of innovations into demonstrable models and prototypes. Prism project can be of 90 per cent funding and only 10 percent of the fund is required by innovator” college dean Ajay Kumar Sharma said. Any citizen with any educational background having original innovative ideas, looking for financial assistance can apply under the project.