This was the fourth year of KPIT Sparkle a national design and development innovation contest for science and engineering students. The theme of the competition in this edition was ‘Next Generation Energy and Transportation Solutions’. This year we received over 12,000 registrations from more than 600 engineering and science colleges, highlights for this year was the increased participation from premier institutes (IITs, NITs) from 9 to 28. We also saw an increase participation 63 of top 100 institutes across India, the list as published by the MHRD (NIRF rankings).

The 30 finalists of KPIT Sparkle 2018 showcased their projects at a public exhibition, held at the premises of the event’s academic partner, Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCOE), Pune.

The finalists were evaluated based on the novelty, affordability, and commercial viability of the proposed ideas. The winners of the contest were evaluated by a panel of eminent jurors and announced at an award ceremony on 18th February 2018, where cash prizes of INR 21 Lakhs were awarded to them.

This year the projects which came to finale were implemented on actual vehicles. There were Green Technology projects like energy production using Fuel Cell and Hydrogen being used as fuel for automotive applications, compressed air engines. Interesting projects like climate control without using refrigerants, recycling of plastic to form building material. Projects which were aimed at end user Convenience like a dynamic time table for busses depending on ridership, predictive path for ambulances, overtake assistance systems etc. Projects which dealt with Safety like Vehicle flow optimization, collisions avoidance systems, Smart Helmets etc.

At the grand finale of KPIT Sparkle 2018, the winners were felicitated with cash prizes and medals. Students were awarded in the presence of Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Harkesh Mittal, Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB). The august gathering also included Ravi Pandit, Chairman and Group CEO, KPIT Technologies; Dr. RA Mashelkar, Chairman, KPIT Innovation Council and Dr. AM Fulambarkar, Principal, PCCOE, in addition to the jurors.