CSR: Downsizing The Brain Drain India Faces
At some point we have all wondered, what if IIT graduates would rather stay back instead of going outside for easy opportunities? What if they would rather help solve massive problems than do it for someone else? What if they rather help develop our country than help others push further ahead?
The challenge is so acute that even the government had to launch, the Prime Minister Research Fellowship this month in order to stop the brain drain. IdeaForge is an entity, which helps citizen to stay back and help the country become self-reliant in being able to create cutting edge unmanned systems. The main idea is to create an environment, where people would rather stay in the country then go outside in search for an easier path to success.
Major Manish, does a routine surveillance patrol with his platoon. He is armed by an eye in the sky, “The Naitra Drone”. Naitra helps the platoon to scan the area ahead and look for a possible ambush or to scan for militants. This has aided the forces in being able to detect the Naxals digging roads to bury landmines, saving dozens of life from a future attack.
IdeaForge’s drones are capable of flying for more than 60 minutes, the highest capability in less than 3 kgs. The help them dominate an area of more than 5kms in radius. A jawaan carries the platform in his backpack and can deploy it in any terrain he might encounter. With little training he’s able to operate the system with full confidence because he knows that the platform takes care of itself in the air. The key task is to focus on what he can and wants to see. Such missions happens everyday today.
“It all started in the year 2000, when I joined IIT Bombay, with the dream of being able to implement my own ideas. But in the initial years, I hardly found people interested or excited about hands on work. It was not until I met my team-mates and found an oasis. One of us even came up with the idea of creating and flying a hovercraft over the Powai lake right next to our campus. From the first prototype that we built in 2004, to the one you might have seen in the movie “3 Idiots”, says Ankit Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO – ideaForge & Winner – MIF Awards 2018.
In 2009, the world’s smallest and lightest autopilot was built and delivered it to the DRDO Labs for their UAV programs. The country’s first fully autonomous micro UAV was launched too.
Since then 100 of these platforms have been delivered to the armed forces, competing against global vendors yet bagging majority of this opportunity in this space in our country. The Indian government plans to buy nearly 3 billion dollars worth of UAVs over a period of next 10yrs in various categories.
In the Uttrakhand disaster; the equipments have been flown over dozens of sites, where rescuers had not been able to reach. When a tigress became a man-eater in UP, the government spent crores of rupees in search of the tigress, but eventually when the drones was put in service, the tigress was located in one night.
“Today, our platforms are also used for industrial and agricultural applications. I am glad that platforms such as Marico Innovation Foundation Awards are recognising are helping us spread awareness with regards to our innovation. But, when I look back, I believe that being a part of the IIT ecosystem, was our great privilege. And building our IdeaForge, is our means, and our way of giving back,” reminiscences Ankit Mehta.
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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team
