139 Makers from Over 8 Countries Participated in The Seventh Edition Of Maker Mela

Mumbai : The seventh edition of Maker Mela, Asia’s Largest Platform for Makers and a premier event for grassroots innovators around the world, successfully concluded on Sunday, 23^rd January 2022. The three-day virtual event showcased the participation of more than 100 innovative minds from across the globe. The event is an initiative of Somaiya Trust and Somaiya Vidyavihar, organized by riidl (Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory), a not-for-profit organization under Somaiya Trust, supported by the NSTEDB, DST, Government of India; BIRAC, DBT, Government of India, MSInS, Government of Maharashtra to accelerate the maker movement in India and create a community of innovators.

In 2021, Maker Mela initiated a virtual platform for makers to exhibit their innovations. Adding to the last year, in 2022, projects of more than 100 Makers from over 8 countries were showcased on the Maker Mela platform. Makers from all age groups, 9 years being the youngest to the oldest being 66 years, and various categories like Art & Craft, Technology, Biotech, Environment, Gaming, Augmented Reality (AR) and many more showcased their innovative ideas and iconic products. Over the 2 years, the videos of these makers received more than 99,000 views by visitors from 100 countries including India, Japan, USA, South Korea and Nepal.

The event kickstarted with the Welcome address by Mr. Prerak Gala, Operation Executive, riidl, taking the guests through the journey of riidl and the impact Maker Mela has made over the years highlighting the star makers. Presidential address by Shri. Samir Somaiya, Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University and President, Somaiya Vidyavihar, encouraged and further lifted the enthusiasm and high spirits of everyone part of the event. The day progressed with the address by the Keynote Speakers, Mr. Chirag Shah and Mr. Abhishek Rai, Founders, Rymo Technologies.

Maker Mela is organized by a core team headed by Mr. Gaurang Shetty, Mr. Deven Sharma, Mr. Prerak Gala along with the riidl team & a team of over 70 volunteers.

Asia’s Largest Influencer Gathering engaged the viewers with the presence of Mr. Ojasvi Bhatia, Head – Platform Partnerships, Meta (India), Mr. Krunal Gediya, Interaction Designer, Flipkart Camera & Creative Head – AR, i-create, Snehaal Dhruv, CEO & Founder, Cameraah and Zuza Sliwinska, Co-Founder, Lenslist moderated by Mr. Krupalu Mehta, Co-Founder, Parallax Labs shared their views on “How the Metaverse will Boost the Creator Economy”. The key insights  were:-

–        Metaverse opens opportunities to socialise with others, find their own safe space

–        With just a smartphone today, one can port themselves into lifetime of experiences

–        Every industry is using AR/VR or Metaverse to expand their supply chain

The second day of the virtual event started with an Internship Expo where corporate companies & startups hired the best talent for different profiles thus creating employment opportunities. The event proceeded with the ChangeMakers’ Conclave with an intellectual panel discussion on “How makers can drive Sustainable Development Goals with innovation”. The panel included Mr. Rajive Gulati, Former Head, UN Technology Innovation Labs India, Mr. Senthilkumar, Founder, Savemom, Ms. Maitri Shah, Founder, Mind Assets, Mr. Gaurav Kamath, Founder, MicroDegree moderated by Mr. Dhairya Pujara, Founder & CEO at Ycenter. The key insights were:

–        There are many high tech innovations available in the world but now our focus should be on making them more accessible and affordable.

–        Startups should look into Environmental, Social, and Governance because bigger companies are starting to align themselves on the basis of ESGs.

A Fireside conversation with Dinesh Patel, Star Maker at Maker Mela 2022 with his innovation & the much loved humanoid robot (Shalu Robot) – World’s First Artificially Intelligent Homemade Social & Educational Humanoid Robot made up of waste materials and capable of speaking 9 Indian languages (Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Nepali) in addition to English along with 38 foreign languages, a total 47 languages. Robot Shalu is dedicated to all Indian Girls and Women and is a step towards promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao mission of the Prime Minister of India.

The event concluded with the announcement of the winners and the closing ceremony. 18 participants from various categories were awarded.

1. Coolest Maker: Transcribe Glass, Madhav Lavakare

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095ad

2. Best Women Maker: Istem, Dr Lita Mohapatra

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc3950957b

3. Best Young Maker: Praman gRain Coat, Pranay Sisir Chalapaka & Manaswini Chalapaka

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095d0

Age: Pranay – 12 &  Manaswini: 9

4. Best Technology Software Maker: Swipe, Aditya Vemuganti

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc3950958a

5. Best Technology Hardware Maker: Grippy, Llewellyn Dsa

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095ab

6. Best Art/Craft Maker: Art from the heart, Esha Agarwal

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc39509570

7. Best Environment Maker: Carbon Tile, Tejas Sidnal

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095e9

8. Best Biotech Maker: NeoBreathe, Avijit Bansal

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc3950957a

9. Best Food Maker: Journey and Making of Kocoatrait Sustainable chocolates, L Nitin Chordia

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc39509586

10. Best Gaming Maker: Stonks, Aditya Gada

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61ed4c119a798b5f929a423a

11. Best Social Innovators Maker: Jalodbust SaniPreneur, Rakesh Kasba

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095d5

12. Best AR/VR Maker: Augtraveler, Pankaj Manchanda

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095f4

13. Maker with most engagement on website: Smart Luggage Carrying Wheelchair, Chinmaya Kumar Patra

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095a3

14. Maker of the year 2022: SaptKrishi’s SabjiKothi, Nikky Kumar Jha

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095b1

Reward: The team will get Prizes worth INR 30,000+

15. Winner of Maker Mela Pitching Session: Breakthrough Insulin formulations (Lamark Biotech), Vaibhav Bhatia

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc39509582

Reward: The team will get Prizes worth INR 30,000+

16. Special recommendation from the riidl team: Logy AI, Dr. Nivedita Tiwari

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc3950957c

Reward: The team will get Prizes worth INR 40,000+

17. Upskill Award Maker: Entomon AR Rings, Amir Orozobekov

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095ea

Reward: He will get Spark AR Certification voucher from Facebook worth $150

18. Upskill Award Maker: Jacky Vignon AR Filter Creator, Jacky Vignon

https://makermela.com/maker/id/61e96090d99cfabc395095ec

Reward: He will get Spark AR Certification voucher from Facebook worth $150

Shri. Samir Somaiya, President, Somaiya Vidyavihar and Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University said, “It feels wonderful to be at the seventh Maker Mela. I still remember eleven years ago when we discussed trying to create the hotbed of innovation and disruptive thought, and it is amazing to see how far we have come. riidl is helping numerous startups at various stages of development and it’s extremely amazing to see how we add value to the startups. We started with a thought of being a completely porous institute welcoming ideas and disruptions from all sides and now we have incubated more than 120 startups. I really admire the way Team riidl has created this innovation drive across the globe.”

Mr. Gaurang Shetty, Chief innovation Catalyst, riidl said, “The seven years have been a journey of learning, sharing and innovating. This Movement of Makers is coming into its own. Yet, we have just begun.”