AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING graduate and business management student of Somaiya Vidyavihar (University), Mumbai, Gaurang Shetty heads the university’s Research Innovation Incubation Design Labs (RiiDL), established in 2010 to promote and facilitate innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

The only child of Ratnagar and Geeta Shetty, a former canteen manager of Premier Automobiles Ltd, and a private tutor, Gaurang’s interest in engineering and entrepreneurship was ignited when he was selected to represent K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering at a student design competition for formula racing cars held in Hockenheim, Germany in 2008. Our eight-member team designed a racing car within two weeks. Although it didn’t win a prize, it sparked the idea of establishing an innovation centre to serve the needs of Somaiya University and affiliated institutions which have an aggregate enrolment of 33,000 students. This idea was readily accepted by Samir Somaiya, chairman of the Somaiya Vidyavihar trust. Thus RiiDL was launched in 2010, recalls Gaurang.

Since then, RiiDL has incubated six start-up business enterprises, filed for ten patents and designed a pollution mapping kit to assess the quality of air, levels of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and noise, in addition to recording humidity and temperature. Other innovations include an interactive chess board for the blind, and a piano staircase for children’s parks and amusement outlets.

In July, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, presented the centre a commendation award, and last year the Mumbai-based Godrej Culture Labs conferred a cash award (Rs.20,000) on RiiDL.

I am really excited about our pollution mapper. We intend to work closely with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to install this portable device to monitor air pollution, a serious health hazard for Mumbai citizens. We also propose to establish RiiDL replicas in other urban and rural habitats to devise local solutions for local problems, says Gaurang.

Way to go, Bro!

Nadia Lewis (Mumbai)