Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman G. Satheesh Reddy has invited young brains to take up innovation on a large scale to take the nation forward.
Speaking after inaugurating the Innovation, Science and Technology Foundation (ISTF) headquartered at Tirupati on Saturday, he spoke on the opportunities provided by the DRDO to the young minds to come up with innovative products and services.
Listing out the scores of schemes under which startups, innovation hubs and MSMEs can apply, he said the organisation had earmarked ₹50 crore to support such novel ideas.
“The response is encouraging, but we want to take the number to 500”, Dr. Reddy added. He said the products developed locally through such innovation hubs would even be acquired by the armed forces.
Dr. Reddy asked the young brains to focus on cyber security related aspects to come up with path-breaking products. He asked ISTF founder and president D. Narayana Rao to act as a facilitator in creating a congenial innovation ecosystem and bring institutions together.
Hailing Tirupati as a unique destination having seven universities, national institutes like the IIT, IISER and IIIT (Sri City), research laboratories and installations like National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL Gadanki) and SHAR Centre at Sriharikota, he saw a great scope to harness talent.
The galaxy of academicians including Vice-Chancellors K. Raja Reddy (SVU), Jamuna Duvvuru (SPMVV), Ram Rao Nagarajan (Mohan Babu University), Directors K.N. Satyanarayana (IIT Tirupati), K.N. Ganesh (IISER Tirupati) and NARL Director A.K. Patra acknowledged their role in taking ISTF forward. ISTF Secretary T. Narayana Rao welcomed, while Vice-President V. Narayana Reddy proposed a vote of thanks. Dr. Satheesh Reddy also opened ISTF website and launched its logo.
At SPMVV, Dr. Reddy kicked off an endowment lecture series on inspiring personalities in promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship education, sponsored by DVR Prakash Rao of Chennai. Assuring of research collaboration between the university and DRDO, he appreciated the faculty for getting 51 patents in a time span of two years. Member of Parliament M. Gurumoorthy inaugurated digital infrastructure for teaching, learning and research at the campus, in the presence of Vice-Chancellor Jamuna Duvvuru and Registrar D.M. Mamatha.
