Events

✨ What an incredible two days at IIT Madras! On March 27th and 28th, the ICSR Building became a hub of innovation as we hosted the MInT-athon for Students and Industry Professionals, focusing on the vital theme of “AI for Safe and Sustainable Mobility”.

🎤 The event was kickstarted by Ms. Richa Joshi, who beautifully set the stage by narrating the program’s journey, bringing us from 270 initial teams to the 9 elite finalists present.

🌟 Day 1: Visionary Insights from Industry Leaders

We were honored to have a lineup of experts who are redefining the “digital fabric” of transportation:

🔹 Inauguration & Keynote by Chief Guest: Mr. Sriramakrishnan Jayaraman (Bosch Mobility India) formally opened the event and shared a deep dive into “Software-Driven Mobility,” envisioning the vehicle as our “third living space” requiring seamless AI integration.

🔹 Opening Remarks: CEO Prof. Ramki Srinivasan (MInT, IIT Madras) inspired the audience by discussing the emergence of the Bharat Multi-Modal Mobility Stack and how digital public infrastructure will help the nation achieve its mobility goals.

🔹 Guest of Honor Address: Mr. Ravichandran Srinivasan (Startup Advisor and Mentor) delivered a thought-provoking talk on “The Human Factor: Designing AI for Real-World Behavior,” challenging innovators to ensure their technology accounts for unpredictable human actions to remain truly implementable.

🔹 AI for the Nation: Mr. Krishnan Karunganni S (AI4Bharat, IIT Madras) showcased the impactful work being done by AI4Bharat to bring language-based AI solutions to diverse Indian populations.

🔹 Data Integrity: Prof. Krishna Pillutla (DSAI, IIT Madras) provided a critical look at “Privacy-Preserving Synthetic Data Generation,” explaining how we can use real-world data for “good” without compromising individual privacy.

🔹 The Power of Open Tools: Mr. venkat vedam (MInT, IIT Madras) concluded the sessions with a masterclass on “Open Stack: How Time-Tested Tools Power AI,” encouraging teams to “stand on the shoulders of giants” by using proven, scalable microservices.

⚙️ Day 2: From Concept to Prototype

The energy shifted as our 9 shortlisted finalist teams took center stage. These teams, who received funding to bring their visions to life, presented their working prototypes-ranging from AI-powered navigation tools for the visually impaired to real-time driver drowsiness monitoring systems.

👏 Finalist Teams:

🔸 Human Cyborgs

🔸 Hmaps

🔸 Hack Elites

🔸 Zeex AI

🔸 Genesis

🔸 Alphians

🔸 CypherCrew

🔸 Mobility Mavericks

🔸 Golden Hour

🙏 Gratitude & Acknowledgements

🤝 This journey would not have been possible without the incredible support of Bosch Mobility India whose commitment continues to empower the next generation of innovators. A special thanks to Mr. Praveen Parihar, Lead – Sustainable Mobility, Bosch Mobility India, for his constant guidance and being a key SPOC throughout the program.

🎓We extend our sincere gratitude to our Senior Mentors, who have been instrumental in evaluating and guiding teams across all stages of the program:

• Dr. Ramachandran Balakrishna – Principal Scientist, Caliper Corporation

• Prof. Gitakrishnan Ramadurai – Faculty In-Charge, MInT; Professor, DSAI, IIT Madras

• Dr. Ramki Srinivasan – CEO, MInT; Professor of Practice, DSAI, IIT Madras

• Mr. Ravichandran Srinivasan – Startup Advisor & Mentor

• Mr. Krishnan Karunganni S – Delivery Head, AI4Bharat

• Mr. venkat vedam – Principal Project Manager, MInT

• Dr. Ajay Gummalla – Co-founder and VP, Bedrock Robotics

🎓We also extend our appreciation to our Direct Mentors for closely guiding the teams throughout their journey:

• Mr. Adarsh Yadav – PhD Scholar, IIT Madras

• Mr. MUHAMMED SWALIH P – PhD Scholar, IIT Madras

• Mr. Rokom Perme – PhD Scholar, IIT Madras

• Dr. Abirami Krishna Ashok – Data Architect, CUMTA

🎤 The event concluded with a thoughtful closing note by Prof. Gitakrishnan Ramadurai, Faculty-in-Charge of MInT, who reflected on the journey of the program with gratitude and emphasized the importance of continued collaboration between academia, industry, and innovators to shape the future of mobility.

💙 A heartfelt thank you to the entire MInT Team for their seamless coordination, dedication, and relentless efforts in converting this event journey into success.

👏 Once again, congratulations to all participants—because when we collaborate, we don’t just build technology, we build a safer, smarter, and more sustainable future for mobility.