10 students get Avery Dennison’s invention scholarship awards

The ten students will receive USD 1,300 each (approximately Rs 85,000 each).

The students are Chirag Manchanda of MIT, Manipal; Harsh Sharma, Ayush Nema and R Vandana Reddy of MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru; Nidhi Sharma of St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi; Arnav Kundra, Rishabh Gupta and Vasu Sharma of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani; and Sohum Waikar and Shantanu Methikar of Pune Vidhyarthi Griha’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune.

The scholarship programme was established to develop young talent in innovation and technology. Currently, the programme is running in India and China.

Anil Sharma, vice-president, Avery Dennison materials group, South Asia, said, “The ultimate aim of the invention scholarship programme is to drive fresh thinking among the undergraduate students and to encourage them to pursue their passion.”

The selection of the students was based on their flight of imagination, academic excellence and extra-curriculum activities. The programme recognised a number of forward-looking innovations.

The rescue band by Arnav Kundra of BITS Pilani has been designed to aid people affected by natural or unnatural calamities.

The plaster spray by Sohum Waikar of Pune Vidhyarthi Griha’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune, is available in an aerosol-like bottle that hardens on application to form a thick wafer-like layer when exposed to air.

The safe-route detection application by Harsh Sharma of BITS, Pilani is aimed at preventing crime against women. This project has been conceptualised to suggest the safest route between two locations, based on the geographical model of crime intensities.

The ‘helio tracker’ by Chirag Manchanda, MIT, Manipal, which is poised to become the next leap in optimising solar power installations, is aimed at building a device that imitates the Sunflower’s ability to continually turn its face toward the sun, enhancing the amount of energy absorbed by the solar panels.

The programme was launched in China in June 2008, and it was designed to inspire the spirit of innovation among university students studying in the engineering, science and technology fields. To date, 103 scholarships have been awarded to promising undergraduate students in China.

In 2011, the programme was launched in India and so far, 20 scholarships have been awarded. In addition, the programme includes a full-day interactive workshop for the scholarship recipients with Avery Dennison scientist and researchers.

“We are pleased that the scholarship programme has entered its fourth year in India,” said Alicia Procello Maddox, president, Avery Dennison Foundation.

“The Avery Dennison Foundation is committed to improving the communities in which we operate, and supporting education is part of this commitment. We recognise the need for talent development to nurture effective leaders of the future. We hope that by encouraging the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among students, we can help them pursue their dream careers,” Maddox added.