IIT-B initiative helps identify commercial worth in students’ theses

Accordingly,IIT Bombay decided to review over 650 theses submitted by MTech and dual degree students in July last year to identify if they have any intellectual property or commercial worth for the industry. Now,at least 17 are in the process of being submitted as patent applications. “We have been taking steps to increase patenting at the institute and this was one of the initiatives to enhance ideas that have commercial value,which should be protected,” said Prof Rangan Banerjee,dean,research and development,IIT Bombay. While IIT Bombay would previously file 15-20 patent applications a year,the number has gone up to 50 now. IIT Bombay has,so far,been granted 110 patents and as of now,over 200 patent applications have been filed.

According to the institute,while over 650 theses were submitted,after the first phase of the review process,around 110 were found to have potential and were probed further. Feedback was also sought from each of the faculty members. In the next step,around 58 theses were selected and they underwent further scrutiny. Subsequently,18 were finalised and while a few patent applications have been submitted,the other applications are in the process of being submitted.

They are in the areas of healthcare (bio-sensors,diagnostic,drug delivery and devices); communication; electrical engineering,manufacturing and microelectronics. Some are also in the area of renewable energy and cover aspects such as energy conversion systems and waste heat recovery. IIT Bombay has also asked its faculty members to submit pre-publication draft to find out if they have material which can be patented.