Mumbai: The seventh edition of Maker Mela, Asia’s Biggest Maker Gathering and a premier event for grassroots innovators around the world, successfully concluded on Sunday, 23rd January 2022. The three day virtual event registered participation of more than 100 innovative minds from across the globe. The event is an initiative of Somaiya Trust and Somaiya Vidyavihar, organized by riidl (Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory), a not-for-profit organization under Somaiya Trust, supported by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India; Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, Maharashtra State Innovation Society, Government of Maharashtra to accelerate the maker movement in India and create a community of innovators.
This year, Maker Mela initiated a virtual platform for makers to exhibit their innovations. Projects of more than 100 Makers from over 15 countries were showcased on the Maker Mela platform. Makers from all age groups, 9 years being the youngest to the oldest being 66 years, and various categories like Art & Craft, Technology, Biotech, Environment, Gaming and many more showcased their innovative ideas and iconic products. The videos of these makers received more than 25,000 views in less than 30 hours by visitors from 83 countries including India, Japan, USA, South Korea and Nepal.
The event kickstarted with the welcome address by Mr. Gaurang Shetty, Chief Innovation Catalyst, riidl, taking the guests through the journey of riidl and the impact it has made. Presidential address by Shri. Samir Somaiya, Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University and President, Somaiya Vidyavihar, encouraged and further lifted the enthusiasm and high spirits of everyone part of the event. The day progressed with the address by guests of honor, Mr. Chirag Shah and Mr.Abhishek Rai, Founders, Rymo Technologies.
Asia’s Largest Influencer Gathering engaged the viewers with the presence of Mr. Krunal Gediay, Interaction Designer, Flipkart Camera & Creative Head – AR, Mr. Ojasvi Bhatia, Head – PlatformPartnerships, Meta (India), Mr. Snehaal Dhruv, CEO & Founder, Cameraah and Ms. Zuzanna Silwinska, Co- founder, Lenslist shared their views on “How the Metaverse will Boost the Creator Economy”. The key insights were :-
Metaverse opens opportunities to socialise with others, find their own safe space
With just a smartphone today, one can port themselves into lifetime of experiences
Every industry is using AR/VR or Metaverse to expand their supply chain
The second day of the virtual event started with Internship Expo where science enthusiasts could network with scientists, entrepreneurs and new age startup founders for corporate exposure. The event proceeded with the ChangeMakers’ Conclave with an intellectual panel discussion on “How makers can drive Sustainable Development Goals with innovation” . The panel included Rajive Gulati, Former Head, UN Technology Innovation Labs India, Mr. Senthilkumar, Founder, Savemom, Ms. Maitri Shah, Founder, Mind Assets, Mr. Gaurav Kamath, Founder, MicroDegree.
A Fireside conversation with Dinesh Patel, Star Maker at Maker Mela 2022 with his innovation & the much loved humanoid robot (Shalu Robot) – World’s First Artificially Intelligent Homemade Social & Educational Humanoid Robot made up of waste materials and capable of speaking 9 Indian languages (Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Nepali) in addition to English along with 38 foreign languages, a total 47 languages. Robot Shalu is dedicated to all Indian Girls and Women and is a step towards promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao mission of the Prime Minister of India.
The event concluded with the announcement of the winners and the closing ceremony. 18 participants from various categories were awarded.
1. Coolest Maker: Transcribe Glass, Madhav Lavakare
https://makermela.com/maker/
2. Best Women Maker: Istem, Dr Lita Mohapatra
https://makermela.com/maker/
3. Best Young Maker: Praman gRain Coat, Pranay Sisir Chalapaka & Manaswini Chalapaka
https://makermela.com/maker/
Age: Pranay – 12 & Manaswini: 9
4. Best Technology Software Maker: Swipe, Aditya Vemuganti
https://makermela.com/maker/
5. Best Technology Hardware Maker: Grippy, Llewellyn Dsa
https://makermela.com/maker/
6. Best Art/Craft Maker: Art from the heart, Esha Agarwal
https://makermela.com/maker/
7. Best Environment Maker: Carbon Tile, Tejas Sidnal
https://makermela.com/maker/
8. Best Biotech Maker: NeoBreathe, Avijit Bansal
https://makermela.com/maker/
9. Best Food Maker: Journey and Making of Kocoatrait Sustainable chocolates, L Nitin Chordia
https://makermela.com/maker/
10. Best Gaming Maker: Stonks, Aditya Gada
https://makermela.com/maker/
11. Best Social Innovators Maker: Jalodbust SaniPreneur, Rakesh Kasba
https://makermela.com/maker/
12. Best AR/VR Maker: Augtraveler, Pankaj Manchanda
https://makermela.com/maker/
13. Maker with most engagement on website: Smart Luggage Carrying Wheelchair, Chinmaya Kumar Patra
https://makermela.com/maker/
14. Maker of the year 2022: SaptKrishi’s SabjiKothi, Nikky Kumar Jha
https://makermela.com/maker/
Reward: The team will get Prizes worth INR 30,000+
15. Winner of Maker Mela Pitching Session: Breakthrough Insulin formulations (Lamark Biotech), Vaibhav Bhatia
https://makermela.com/maker/
Reward: The team will get Prizes worth INR 30,000+
16. Special recommendation from the riidl team: Logy AI, Dr. Nivedita Tiwari
https://makermela.com/maker/
Reward: The team will get Prizes worth INR 40,000+
17. Upskill Award Maker 1: Entomon AR Rings, Amir Orozobekov
https://makermela.com/maker/
Reward: He will get Spark AR Certification voucher from Meta (earlier Facebook) worth $150
18. Upskill Award Maker 2: Jacky Vignon AR Filter Creator, Jacky Vignon
https://makermela.com/maker/
Reward: He will get Spark AR Certification voucher from Meta (earlier Facebook) worth $150
Shri. Samir Somaiya, President, Somaiya Vidyavihar and Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University said , “It feels wonderful to be at the seventh Maker Mela. I still remember eleven years ago when we discussed trying to create the hotbed of innovation and disruptive thought, and it is amazing to see how far we have come. riidl is helping numerous startups at various stages of development and it’s extremely amazing to see how we add value to the startups. We started with a thought of being a completely porous institute welcoming ideas and disruptions from all sides and now we have incubated more than 120 startups. I really admire the way Team riidl has created this innovation drive across the globe.”
