The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur has created a platform to encourage its faculty and researchers to pursue innovative and disruptive ideas related to health, societal, economic, and environmental issues. Called ‘Moonshot Competition’, the idea is to develop projects that can eventually lead to large-scale solutions to improve these areas, says the institute.

The faculty members had to present their ideas through a pre-recorded video pitch. “The main objective of the competition is to encourage a moonshot culture and future-driven mindset in the institute, leading to transformational technologies and effective interventions for responding to societal challenges and aspirations,” Prof Santanu Chaudhury, Director, IIT Jodhpur said.

“With such an initiative, the institute aspires to stimulate new research initiatives to foster creativity and team-building alongside addressing urgent problems and paving the way to a sustainable future,” IIT Jodhpur says.

Some of the solution-oriented ideas selected under the competition include Prof Debanjan Guha Roy’s idea on harvesting an asteroid microwave-assisted rock to pulverize and electrostatic separator which is related to space, microwave. “The international community has gradually started accepting the idea of deep space exploration, human settlement in space, and resource generation from celestial bodies. In the past few years, multiple governments and space agencies have invested in developing technology and formulating regulatory frameworks for this purpose. India is in a unique position to leverage its space expertise to pioneer resource exploration on the moon and asteroids. We need strong support from the industry and government to be a leader in this domain,” Prof Roy said.

Prof Sumit Kalra shared through an idea on personal independent digital twin related to AI stating it is “the next big revolution after the internet and AI that has the potential to impact our society on each and every level. The intervention can result in highly optimised decision-making and execution of tasks.”

Prof Sankalp Pratap, Prof Romi, Prof GV Reddy, and Prof Dibyadyuti Roy shared their creative idea on BRBL — to create countless ‘Birbals’ through technology intervention in education related to AI. “It aims to work on the stated ideals of NEP 2020, providing high-quality nuanced inputs to children from all strata of society employing innovative technology,” Prof Pratap explained.

“Some of the proposals have the potential to be initiated as a research project and subsequently, commercial viability will be accessed,” IIT Jodhpur added.

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