The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is going to establish a Design Innovation Center (DIC), named Navonmesh at a cost of Rs 10 crore. Funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, it will address issues of the Himalayan Region using resources available locally as well as National Priorities.
The objective is to develop innovative designs primarily to address the local issues which need low cost solutions and to nurture and advance the culture of design and innovation in the region to improve the quality of life. Prof Ajit K Chaturvedi, director, IIT Roorkee, said: “The DIC aims to produce region-specific products and will support innovative proposals for product development. It also has some unique outreach programmes such as COMAl (Common MAn to laboratory), under which DIC will connect with the common man, who often has innovative ideas, but usually gets deprived of proper mentoring, to take his ideas to reality.”
The DIC has identified several products that are going to be developed which includes crop harvester for terrains, green furniture based on forest waste materials, assistive device differently-abled persons & high yield loom design for Uttarakhand local weavers.
The DIC will also take up industrial consultancy and collaborative activities besides conducting workshops/ seminars and U2U (Udbhavan to Utpadan). The MHRD approved the proposal of IIT Roorkee to establish the DIC under the National Initiative of the Ministry for setting up of Design Innovation Center, Open Design School and National Design Innovation Network.