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NEW DELHI / September 20, 2022: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s DST-Technology Enabling Centre (TEC), supported by Dept. of Science & Technology, Dept. of India, has mined more than 120 technologies innovated by researchers and inventors from academic institutions and small enterprises all over the country to facilitate their entry into the market.
The purpose of technology mining of an innovation or invention is to assess its technology readiness level (TRL), a type of measurement system on a scale of 1 (beginning of research) to 9 (ready for commercialization) used to judge its maturity level. By figuring the TRL of an innovation, Amrita TEC assists innovators with technical and commercial guidance to accelerate its commercialization and introduction into the market.
Said Dr. Krishnashree Achuthan of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, who facilitates activities for the DST-Amrita TEC: “We do a needs assessment of innovations referred to us by inventors and DST, assess their technology readiness, suggest techno-commercial enhancements to the innovations, help with pilot sites and connect them to commercialization partners. We have mined over 120 cutting-edge technologies from all over India in areas such as robotics, electronics, disaster management, Covid-19 interventions, IoT, medical devices, industry 4.0, education & skilling, nanotech, and agro-tech. We are now pursuing collaborations with multiple partners to help with market-driven technology transfer and research. The results of our mining showed that about 42% of the 120 innovations that we investigated were below the TRL level of 4; about 28% were between 5 and 6; and 30% were above TRL 7. Our aim is to assist them with a roadmap to achieve higher TRL levels.”
Though Indian innovations are slowly getting worldwide appeal and acceptance, there is an absolute need to fast track. Incremental innovations are plenty, but path-breaking innovations are fewer. Several innovations by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, such as the nano mask, waste-water treatment technologies, game-based learning platform, and multi-parameter detection sensors, can have very large impact on society and are now being commercialized by DST-Amrita Technology Enabling Centre.
Said Dr. Sasangan Ramanathan, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham: “There are multiple challenges to commercialization of new innovations in India. The primary reason is the lack of connect to the eco-system that helps with exposure and commercialization opportunities. Most academic institutions are seen only as personnel providers and not solution providers by the industry. Majority of them need to be nurtured to become solution providers. The cycle time from idea to productization and climbing the TRL ladder is another challenge. Further, the timeline to get ideas patented can take a few years.”
DST has played a significant role in identifying the gap existing between research and commercialization and facilitating the setting up of centers like the Amrita Technology Enabling Center to address the need. DST-Amrita TEC is pioneering technology enablement in areas such as smart environment, disaster management, health, and biomedical devices.
Said Dr. P Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham: “The vision of our Chancellor Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) is for technology to reach and aid the most vulnerable. Amrita university’s focus on societal development has been amplified with the establishment of the DST-Amrita TEC Centre.”
