Delhi: November, 2010: Delhi Technological University (DTU), formerly Delhi College of Engineering, is known for its technological innovations and new product development. With an objective to provide a platform for showcasing the innovative genius in various engineering and technical spheres, a National Conference on “Innovations in Engineering” is being organized by the University from November 1-2, 2010.

Inaugurating the conference, Mr. Anand Prakash, Principal Secretary, Directorate of Training & Technical Education (DTTE), Govt. of Delhi said, “Technical innovations should be for the welfare of wider audience. They should be affordable for all and should improve standards of living. The Innovation Conclave at DTU is a right forum for the students to showcase their ideas and talent and seek guidance from the experts. Furthermore, as Thomas Edison has famously said ‘Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration’, it is important to remain focussed and persistent to turn your ideas into reality.” He also informed that the Delhi Knowledge Development Foundation of DTTE mandates to fund innovative and scientific projects and interested students can approach it for necessary support.

Earlier in the day, while welcoming the distinguished dignitaries, Prof. P.B. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, DTU, informed that DTU has many innovations to its credit including Hybrid Car, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Annapurna – automatic vending machine, Mini Baja – all terrain vehicle, and Robotic Shera to mention some. “DTU is known as ‘factory of innovations’ primarily because it has been able to percolate the culture of innovations in its engineering education right at an undergraduate level,” he said. Informing that the Innovation Conclave endeavours to encourage students for innovation, he added, “I am happy to share with you that almost 85 new ideas are being presented in areas like Clean Energy Technologies, Recycle and Reuse of waste products, Computer Science and Networking, Automobile Solutions, Nanotechnology and tomorrow’s Communication Technologies, to mention some, from the students, research scholars and faculty members of institutions like DTU, IITs, NITs, Jadhavpur University, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, and Jaipur Engineering College, among others, during the two-day conference. Proceedings of the Conference were also released on the occasion.  

 Prof. S.K. Saxena, Director, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Combating Climate Change, who was also the Guest of Honour for the occasion, remarked, “India ranks at 15th position when it comes to innovations, hence there is still a long way for us to go. Climate Change is an important area of concern and it has four basic concepts – Reduce, Recycle, Recharge and Reuse, which need to be focussed upon for sustainable development.” Other important dignitaries present on the occasion included, Prof. Moinuddin, Pro-Vice Chancellor, DTU, Prof. B.D. Pathak, Dean, Academics, DTU, Prof. A.K. Gupta, HoD, Civil & Environmental Engineering Deptt, DTU and Dr. Raju Sarkar, faculty member and Coordinator of the Conference, among others.

The inaugural function was followed by oral presentations and poster presentations on the innovative ideas of the participating student and faculty delegates. Some of the topics covered during the day included ‘Fly ash as useful construction material for sustainable development’, ‘Reuse of recycled concrete aggregates in Civil Engineering’, ‘Comparative Study between emerging and conventional techniques for sewage treatment’, ‘Use of waste plastic as aggregate replacement in cement concrete’, and ‘Current network security: Issues and Challenges’, to mention prominent ones.

The topics to be covered tomorrow at the Conference include ‘’Automobile pollution and its control’, ‘Electronic Commerce – the modern business Technology, ‘New Technologies in Street Lighting’, ‘Reuse of hazardous waste in Civil Engineering’, ‘Growing Telecom in rural India’, ‘Harnessing Wind energy for power production’ and so on.