10 brilliant innovations by IITians to make India a better place to live in

India is recognized globally for its premier engineering institutes IITs and IIMs. Students from these colleges are behind some of the world's unicorns. They have a history of producing some wonderful innovations for a better world.

From efficient electric cars, autos running on hydrogen to machines for the blind - the diverse innovations inside the campus labs are usually aimed at solving the real pain points of people and making their lives easier.

Big or small, their ideas have contributed to our society for years. They are out to revolutionize the world and we are simply proud of their stellar innovations. Let's go over some of them:

An Electric Race Car that participated in Formula Students competition at Silverstone Circuit, UK

IIT-B students unveiled EVo1 at the Powai Institute campus, it is India’s first electric race car. A team of 60 students designed this car in 2012. It has a top speed of 115 km per hour and weighs about 320 kgs. It has acceleration from 1 to 100 kmph in 5 seconds and from 0 to 60 kmph in 3.5 seconds. It possesses high efficiency DC motors and Lithium polymer batteries.

SmartCane for the easy mobility of those visually-challenged
A group of passionate technologists, an IIT professor and a social entrepreneur joined hands and came up with an innovative product that aims to alleviate the hardships faced by visually challenged people when it comes to independent mobility.SmartCane™ is an aid for the visually impaired that provides safe and independent mobility which eases their integration into the society. It helps its user diagnose any above-the-knee obstruction from a distance of 3 meters. Frugality and resourcefulness have ensured that this product costs only INR 3,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=3etHWJL2izs

An App which Facebook ended up buying

Abheek and Soham were inspired to create Tagtile by an incident in a restaurant in San Francisco. The IITians heard the restaurant owner complain about the websites and apps offering deals. Thus, Tagtile was launched in March 2011 to satisfy the merchants as well as customers with exciting deals and offers. Tagtile won many acclaims and became one of the widely used apps. It also received an award in October 2011 for Best Startup in a competition among 100-odd start-ups in the Silicon Valley.Initially a partnership deal, ended with Facebook buying the year-old product. The deal brought along an offer for Abheek and Soham to join Facebook as product manager and engineer.

Drones which the Indian Army now uses IIT Bombay students invented NETRA - an autonomous hovering Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), a drone that helps the Indian army with rescue operations during natural calamities.

Water rides You can now walk On Mirik Gogri and Ayush Jain, Two IIT-Bombay alumni formed Humming Whale Product Innovations, a company that innovates path-breaking products and solutions. The team came up with a fun idea of walking on water, which they later gamified into a ride. They are now all set to introduce the product at various gaming zones, amusement parks, events and parties. The duo also came up with rewritable T shirts. Write and erase. Cool, isn't is? The t-shirt was a hit on online shopping websites and was worn by a movie cast that appeared on popular TV show Bigg Boss.

Hydrogen Autos with less noise and Pollution may take over Delhi roads Professor LM Das of IIT-D conceived the idea of using compressed hydrogen as an automotive fuel with Delhi's air pollution in mind . In the early '80s, it was a bold initiative — an idea ahead of its time. Lay acquaintances thought he was talking about making a hydrogen bomb. Detractors in the scientific community dismissed his research as a freak project. But Das soldiered on alone over the next three decades as associates came and went. He says - Unlike petroleum-derived hydrocarbon fuels, pure hydrogen does not produce toxic carbon monoxide or the heat-trapping carbon dioxide on combustion. There are no oxides of sulphur, nor any particulates. Water vapour and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) are the only byproducts. Although NOx is a pollutant, Das claims their engine has been optimized to reduce its emission greatly.

Machine that reduces waste and in turn quenches thirst

Designed and developed in just 95 days by two IIT Bombay students - Anurag Meena and Satyendra Meena - is a revolutionary machine which accepts used cans or bottles, and dispenses 300 millilitres of clean (RO and UV treated) drinking water in exchange. It is currently on a pilot test run at the IIT-Bombay boys’ hostel. In the coming months, it will also be installed in several other places in Mumbai and Chandigarh.

(Image credit: PagalGuy)