IoT-based innovation around diabetes’ foot ulcers wins GITAM SmartIDEAthon 2022

In the grand finale of the SmartIDEAthon 2022 Challenge, 2 young entrepreneurs-in-the-making, Animesh Kumar and Hrithik Jaiswal have emerged winners. The finale was held in offline mode at GITAM’s Visakhapatnam campus on August 11, 2022.

According to a press release issued by the varsity, along with the winner’s title, the pair bagged a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh and a fully sponsored trip to Boston.

The jury consisted of eminent industry and academic experts.

The finalists were shortlisted from around 1,200 pan-India entries, said the official press release.

Eminent speakers including Sadhguru, and Prashant Warier, Co-Founder & CEO, Qure.ai and Dr Jitendra Sharma, MD and CEO, Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone were also present at the event.

Students of Netaji Subhash University of Technology from Bihar’s Hajipur made a winning pitch for their startup “Feetwings”, which develops Internet of Things(IoT)-based solutions for early detection and monitoring of diabetes to prevent foot ulcers.

SmartIDEAthon is a social innovation pitchfests organized by GITAM (Deemed to be) University’s Venture Development Centre (VDC) ) and E-Club, Startup India, Invest India, NUCEM, Boston and NUCEE, Boston.

The winners and runners-up in all categories are from the Health Tech and Assistive Technology track.

Around 250 volunteers were present on the ground to make the event a success.

M. Sri Bharath, President, GITAM (Deemed to be) University, said, “SmartIDEAthon offered a platform for young minds to propose solutions around the themes advertised. Running your own business is not easy. By understanding the challenges you might face and how to deal with them, you’ll be much better prepared for potential problems and give your business the best chance of success.”

Runner ups Karthickjothi M and Mothish M, students of Madras Christian College, Tambaram (Tamil Nadu) won Rs. 1 lakh for “Allytriz”, which is working on Assistive Technology that helps differently-abled people with speech and hearing impairments break their communication and social barrier.

Amirthalakshmi K and Carolin Mary X from Tamil Nadu’s Saranathan College of Engineering won the best women led entrepreneurship idea and won Rs. 50,000 cash prize for their venture, Thundra, which is working on providing a smart wheelchair to help people with mobility disabilities caused due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Prof. Dayananda Siddavattam, Vice-Chancellor, GITAM (Deemed to be) University said, “India is poised to stand out as one of the skilled nations in coming years. India’s science and technology institutions have become fertile grounds for generating start-ups. GITAM University is planning to establish a biotech innovation ecosystem, a ‘Bio-nest’ in campus to encourage enterprising ideas,”.