Kohima, June 18 (DIPR): The Nagaland Board of School Education has notified for information of all concerned that the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam IGNITE 16 Competition is underway and entries are being accepted till 31st August 2016. This nationwide competition aims to harness the creative and innovative spirit of school children. The awards have been renamed after the former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, so that creative children continue to draw inspiration from his spirit and the awards are announced on his birthday, 15th October, which is celebrated as Children's Creativity and Innovation Day by NIF.
This competition is organized by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India in collaboration with the Honey Bee Network, CBSE, National/State Education Boards and other partners. Till date, NIF has filed over 150 applications for patents and design registrations in the name of student awardees. For those ideas which have market or social diffusion potential, NIF also engages designers/fabricators to develop value added prototypes/products so that companies or partners for non-commercial diffusion can be approached. One such awarded idea of a walker with adjustable legs of Ms. Shalini Kumari, Patna, has been commercialised as well. A couple of other student innovations are also in pipeline for commercialisation.
The Heads of Institutions are hereby requested to inform their students the content of this notification and encourage them to actively participate in this competition, the details of which are mentioned below:
The last date for submission of entries to NIF directly by the students or through schools at the following address or through email at ignite@nifindia.org is 31st August 2016.
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE 16 Competition National Innovation Foundation India Satellite Complex, Premchand Nagar Road, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015, Gujarat.
• Entries may be submitted in the following categories:
1. Technological practical ideas to solve any problem in day to day life.
2. Real life technological projects demonstrating innovative ways of solving problems or reducing drudgery or generating efficiency or conserving resources (projects demonstrating application of known scientific concepts or theories will not be accepted).
3. Traditional knowledge practices documented from elders in and around one's family.
4. Information about some other innovators in the neighbourhood.
• Each entry (in case of i and ii above) should be accompanied with a certificate from parents and teachers saying that the idea/innovation has been developed and documented by the student concerned entirely on his/her own without any guidance or support from them.
• NIF will provide support for patenting and incubating innovative projects into products in all deserving cases. For the last few years, NIF has been able to file patents for each award winner of the IGNITE competitions apart from facilitating prototype development in most of the cases. Winners of the earlier IGNITE competitions have also won awards in NIF's National Competition at the hands of the President of India and other awards. Many student winners participated in the innovation exhibitions organised by NIF at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and inaugurated by the Hon'ble President. IGNITE winners have also been selected in the Innovation Scholar-in-Residence program of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the last three years. Many have been interviewed by leading national print and electronic media.
• IGNITE Awards winners are also eligible to get 10 bonus marks while applying for admission in B.Tech program at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIITD), an autonomous institute of Government of Delhi. These bonus marks are in addition to the 100 marks an applicant gets based on the JEE (Mains) and Class XII marks.
