SmartIDEAthon: Hyderabad’s Next-Gen tech innovators tackle menstrual hygiene, indoor pollution

Hyderabad: A menstrual hygiene product for the visually challenged, a cart to help vendors retain the freshness of vegetables and a heat-powered air blower that reduces indoor air pollution were some of the many innovations featured at the SmartIDEAthon-2023 in Hyderabad.

The event was organised by the GITAM (deemed-to-be) University, Hyderabad, sponsored by Startup India, a part of the government’s initiative to foster a start-up ecosystem in India.

Anup Paikaray, who won the SmartIDEAthon-2023 for his heat-powered air blower, is a student at the Odisha University of Technology and Research, Bhubaneswar. His initial research involved meeting with people to understand the problem of indoor air pollution caused by mud stoves. He held long discussions with several members of his potential customer base to understand the issue.

“You always have to ask open-ended questions which open up the customers to having discussions. That is how I could see their point of view and their journey with regard to the problem. I got insights I did not find on the Internet or in any article,” Paikaray said.

His heat-powered air blower enhances combustion efficiency and reduces emissions from a mud stove, lowering indoor air pollution.

Learning from psychology

GITAM students K Ushasri Devi and P Sushma Devi founded Beye, a menstrual hygiene product designed specifically for the visually challenged which alerts them when they have a period by vibrating.

For the duo, qualitative analysis skills were critical. So, they approached a psychology professor at GITAM to learn the skills. Ushasri and Sushma said since they were dealing with a sensitive issue such as menstruation, they needed to make their research participants comfortable.

“We need to get into our customers’ shoes and make them feel comfortable. Only then could we start to talk to them about problems they faced due to periods,” Ushasri Devi said. The duo spoke to women at the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Vishakhapatnam and gained many insights from them that helped them build their product.

Plastic in fuel

To address the problem of plastic waste, Vineet Kumar from the Sershah Engineering College in Bihar had to go deep into the world of academic research.

“Exploring research papers and getting in touch with the right professors played a critical role in developing an effective solution for serving the society,” he said. He collaborated with researchers at IIT-Mandi and IIT-Patna to create Polyfueler, an innovation that converts plastic waste into fuel.

He also carried out surveys of his potential customers — industries, transport owners and farmers — to further his business idea.

“I’ve done surveys, visited industries and gave our samples to them for testing. I also connected with IIP, Dehradun, and other institutes to get approval for our technologies,” he said.

“I also did surveys in my rural locality regarding the kind of plastic waste being generated and what I need to do to convert it into fuel,” he said.

Helping vegetable vendors

Meanwhile, the TechRedi team from Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy Women’s College, Hyderabad, poured over government websites on agriculture for their business idea. They gathered information about the optimum temperature and humidity required to maintain the freshness of vegetables sold by street vendors.

They have created a closed cart for vegetable produce sold by street vendors to maintain its freshness, and thereby prevent a drop in prices. They also conducted verbal interviews with street vendors regarding the problems they faced.

The SmartIDEAthon-2023 saw several students pitch their business ideas, vying for the Rs 2 lakh start-up capital and a sponsored trip to Boston for mentorship and business coaching that the event organisers promised to the best teams.

Inputs from PTI