Tag Archives: chemical

Event: Intro to Inquiry-oriented Education by Prof. K.P. Mohanan (IISER)

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InnoVidya and IUCAA a talk by Prof. K.P. Mohanan on “An Introduction to Inquiry-Oriented Education” on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at 11am, at Bhaskara 3 Hall, IUCAA. This is the next talk in the InnoVidya/IUCAA SPARK lecture series.

Abstract of the talk:

Scientific inquiry is a form of rational inquiry that seeks knowledge by formulating our ignorance as questions and arriving at answers on the basis of data/observations. Most forms of science education focus on helping students to understand a body of knowledge — the conclusions resulting from scientific inquiry — and to apply that knowledge to solve problems. As an alternative, I have been pursuing an inquiry-oriented form of science education that goes beyond understanding and application, to help students acquire the capacity to engage in scientific inquiry, to function not only as consumers of knowledge, but also as producers of knowledge.

The youtube video clip on What Ruca Likes and Dislikes will give a brief taste of what an inquiry-oriented classroom is like.

In this talk, I will briefly outline what my colleagues and I have been doing to bring scientific inquiry into classrooms, textbooks, and examinations. It should be of interest to both students and educators.

About the Speaker – Prof. K.P. Mohanan

K.P. Mohanan received his PhD from MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), under Noam Chomsky, and taught at the University of Texas in Austin, MIT, Stanford University and National University of Singapore. At NUS, he initiated the General Education Program for undergraduate students, and as part of this program, created a web course on Academic Knowledge and Inquiry (http://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/aki).

In January 2011, he moved to IISER-Pune to set up and develop the Centre for Integrative Studies. At IISER, he has created a three-course package on rational inquiry, covering scientific, mathematical, and conceptual inquiries. He is currently engaged in developing courses and programs on different types of inquiry based learning for high school and college students.

About the InnoVidya IUCAA Spark Program

The SPARK program is a series of events jointly conducted by InnoVidya and IUCAA. These are special events that <spark> imagination & curiosity of our young, build bonds between participants of different disciplines, catalyze interactivity & promote peer links

About InnoVidya

InnoVidya is a group of educators and industry professionals who want to reach out to students, teachers, trainers and working professionals and catalyze significant improvements in their learning ecosystems. In addition to the InnoVidya website and the InnoVidya mailing list, we also hold public lectures on the 4th Saturday of every month. Lectures usually involve talks by senior educators, industry visionaries, or social and/or for-profit entrepreneurs working in the space of higher education.

We are currently based in Pune, but we expect that this initiative will expand all over India.

If you’re interested in the state of education in India, please subscribe to get updates by email

Event Details

The event is on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at 11am, at the Bhaskara 3 Hall, IUCAA, at University of Pune campus.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Register here. There is ample parking at the venue.

Technology Development Opportunities in Orthopedic Products in Indian Market – NCL talk – 4 Aug

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What: NCL & Venture Center Presentation on Technology Development Opportunities for Orthopedic Products in the Indian Market, by Dr. Vijay Panchanadikar, Orthopedic Surgeon.
When: Wednesday, 4th August, 3:30pm-5pm
Where: Chemical Engineering Hall, NCL, Pashan Road. Map (CE is Hall #10)
Registration and Fees: This event is free for all to attend. No registration required

Click on the Venture Center Logo to see all PuneTech articles about Venture Center
Click on the Venture Center Logo to see all PuneTech articles about Venture Center

The NCL Innovation IDEA Catalyst Workshop Series

This talk is a part of a workshop series (The NCL Innovation IDEA Catalyst Workshop Series), that focuses on exploring technology development and commercialization opportunities by connecting scientists/technologists with people who understand market and industry needs. This talk is the first in this series and features an orthopedic surgeon pointing out opportunities in his area in the Indian market, if only some technologist would develop the technologies needed.

Tech Opportunities for Orthopedic Products

Polymers, ceramics and specialty alloys are increasingly used as bearing and/or volume-filling materials in orthopedic implants such as hips and knees. However, there are several issues with existing products, such as the need for highly skilled surgeons, limited bio-compatibility of implant materials, inappropriate pricing for Indian markets, etc. In this talk, Dr. Panchanadikar will show real life examples of implants used for a variety of orthopedic surgeries, and highlight the problems faced by orthopedic surgeons during the use of implants. He will describe a âwish listâ of products for the orthopedic implant market as well as the need for software solutions to improve the accuracy of guide wire positioning as well as imaging & simulation tools for skills development of young surgeons. This talk is a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between scientists with competencies in biomaterials and surgeons with awareness of market needs and product opportunities.

About the speaker – Dr. Vijay Panchanadikar

Dr. Panchanadikar is an orthopedic surgeon from Pune, who has over two decades of experience in this field, and performs over 100 major orthopedic surgeries each year. His areas of interest include trauma surgery, joint replacement and computer imaging in orthopedics. He has published several papers and has delivered lectures and presentations at several conferences across India. He also teaches DNB students at Sanjeevan Hospital and holds a keen interest in developing interactive learning aids for orthopedics. He holds copyrights in India for imaging software used for accurate positioning of guide wire in surgeries for fractures of various bones.

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Innovation Flow – The Science of Flowing Ideas and Inventions into Innovation – 27th Aug

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NCL, India, is a research, development and consulting organisation with a focus on chemistry and chemical engineering. It has a successful record of research partnership with industry. It has over 200 scientists at its campus in Pune.
NCL, India, is a research, development and consulting organisation with a focus on chemistry and chemical engineering. It has a successful record of research partnership with industry. It has over 200 scientists at its campus in Pune.

What: Innovation Flow – the science of flowing Ideas and Inventions into Innovation by M.V. Shankar, Principal Scientist, Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd, Pune. This is the 6th talk in the NCL Innovations Seminar Series.
When: Thursday, 27th August, 4:00pm
Where: Second Floor Lecture Hall, Main Building, National Chemical Laboratory, Pashan Road
Registration and fees: This event is free for all to attend. No registration required.
Details: Event Page

Abstract of the talk – Innovation Flow

Most of us make our daily living by generating creative ideas, solving tough technical problems and translating our ideas into inventions. Now what would give us greater satisfaction? – Innovation, i.e taking our insightful ideas and breakthrough inventions successfully to the market. How good are we at Innovation? – the present statistics are quite discouraging – typically, for every hundred good ideas, ten may lead to breakthrough inventions and one to an innovative product that meets a critical need of the customer. To accelerate the Innovation process and to maximize the Return on Innovation, we need a systematic Innovation process that will (a) focus and structure our ideation efforts (b) align our ideas to solve a critical need and ensure that the Customer sees added value and most importantly (c) give us the satisfaction of seeing our idea through the end of the Innovation Funnel.

As an inventor, I have often wondered how to bridge the gap between invention and innovation. When I got into managing technology programs, I struggled to defend and nurture those promising out-of-the box ideas that tend to get killed in conventional stage-gate processes. To create an effective Innovation strategy, I wondered how I can balance the capabilities of emerging technologies and the needs of emerging markets. I studied many Innovation processes, creativity tools, consulted with Innovation experts, researched many Innovative organizations (Google, 3M, Apple, Toyota, P & G etc) and also learnt from facilitating Innovation in R&D organizations (GE, Tata and Dow). I found that the secret to successful innovation lies in systematically growing the innovation potential of ideas.

I evolved my Innovation approach based on TRIZ – Theory of Inventive Problem Solving – to address primary concerns like:

  • How do we make sure that we are solving the right Problem?
  • How to balance Imagination Vs Knowledge and come up with creative, yet technically feasible, solutions?
  • How to learn from creative ideas and smart solutions that have solved similar problems in other domains? How to integrate this knowledge into our solution?
  • If our technical expertise / domain knowledge alone is not sufficient for Innovative Problem Solving – then what other new skills do we need to learn?
  • Is there a systematic approach to sail the Idea through various barriers and translate it in to an innovative product?

The discussion will address these prominent questions that come to our mind whenever we hear the word Innovation. I will introduce creative thinking tools like 5 Whys, 9 Windows, Reversal of Assumption, 4-Quadrants etc. We will also discuss TRIZ-based Innovation tools like Ideal Final Result (IFR), Function Maps, Contradictions, 40 Inventive Principles, Technology Evolution Trends and Evolution Potential.

About the speaker – M.V. Shankar

Shankar MV is a Physicist turned Materials Scientist. He is Principal Scientist at Dow R&D Centre, Pune. Prior to joining Dow, he has been a lead scientist at GE R&D, Bangalore for eight years. He has ten patented inventions and an award winning new solid state illumination product based on his invention. His expertise is in electronic and optical materials. He has designed and developed novel luminescent materials for application in White LEDs. He has been actively learning, practicing and teaching systematic innovation methods and TRIZ-based innovative problem solving tools. He facilitates cross-pollination of ideas, innovative problem solving and the creation of strategic intellectual property across technology domains.

His interests include physics, philosophy, psychology, creativity and technology entrepreneurship.

Contact info: Dr. Shankar MV, Email: Shankar.Venugopal07@gmail.com

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