Vadodara: MG Motor India, which is all set to roll out its vehicles from its Halol Car Manufacturing plant in the first half of next year, today announced the winners of the first MG Innovation Challenge conducted at Navrachana University. Entrusted with a Hackathon task on ‘How to make transportation safer and cleaner’, the students demonstrated modern and technologically advanced solutions in telematics, IoT (Internet of Things), smart sensors, Al (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning.
Among the many automotive solutions presented by various groups, Parul University bagged the first prize worth INR 100,000. The first runner up was from Silver Oak College of Engineering and Technology, Ahmedabad (INR 50,000) and the second runner up was from Navrachana University (INR 25,000). The full-day event saw participation from over 125 students across 26 groups representing 5 cities across Gujarat including Baroda, Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Surat and Anand.
“With Gujarat set to become the next big automotive hub, it is imperative for us to nurture talent that helps build cars that are not only futuristic, but also responsible towards society in terms of creating an ecosystem of safe and clean transportation. We look forward to studying these solutions and possibly embedding them in the cars we produce here,” said Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India.
The student group from Parul University, which bagged the first prize, showcased a prototype ‘Smart Helmet’ with indicator lights and an embedded GPS system with an e-call feature in case of an accident. The runner-up team, from Silver Oak, demonstrated an IoT platform on which apps can be built and Navrachana University students presented a device to reduce vehicle tailpipe emissions.
While all the teams were tasked to work on ideas on-the-spot, some teams came with prototypes from projects they developed recently including a kit which converts a manual car into an automatic one, a car built for physically challenged people, a smart helmet and a wireless electric car charging system. Post evaluation, prizes were handed over to the winners by Mr Rajeev Chaba and Mrs Tejal Amin, Chairperson, Navrachana University.
The ‘MG Innovation Challenge’ is a further extension of the ‘MG Drives Innovation’ program, which was launched in partnership with TiE, Delhi NCR, in December 2017. As part of its commitment to community development around where its manufacturing facility is located, MG had also sponsored the MG Vadodara Marathon earlier in 2018.
