NIDians create smart gas-stove knob

It is rare when a product is developed keeping the elderly of the society in mind. Three young guys from National Institute of Design did just that and won a national award for it. Orb, an LPG gas knob automation that can turn itself off, control the flame and even track the number of whistles is a product that has recently won the Tata Elxsi's Ignite competition that aimed at designing a smart kitchen appliance for the elderly.

Created by fourth semester postgraduate students - Sushant Darake, Tawfik Manham and Arjun Raj Kumar - Orb was developed keeping in mind the competition, held on the World Industrial Day. "Elderly people often fail to keep track of the whistles blown by their pressure cookers. They also tend to forget to switch off the gas stove. We had a lot of ideas but decided to work on creating a knob that can do all these things for them," said Tawfik.

Orb is designed in a way that allows it to be used on all existing gas stoves and in fact, turns them into smart appliances. "It has three modes for various functions: timer mode that informs one about the time left, flame mode that tells if the flame is high or low and the whistle counter mode that shows how many whistles are remaining. The dials are mechanical and the knob has a display screen as well," Sushant explained.

The gadget additionally uses a simple microphone and a micro-controller coupled with a low latency e-ink display system to monitor time and count the whistles. A stepper motor is used to disengage the lock enabling the knob to turn off after the set time. "With this innovation, we can bridge the divide between gas stoves and new age electric ovens," he added.

Not just for the elderly, this automatic knob can be handy for working women who multi-task, or hostel students who study for long hours and tend to forget that they have kept something on the stove to cook.

Source: TOI

India Design Council Signs MoU with UK Design Council at CII-NID Design Summit

India Design Council (IDC) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UK Design Council (UKDC) at the CII-NID Design Summit to facilitate cooperation between India and UK for promotion of Design in the country.

The MoU was signed by Mr Pradyumna Vyas, Member Secretary, IDC and Mr John Mathers, CEO, UK Design Council in the presence of Mr Anand Mahindra, President, IDC.

Commenting on the MoU, Mr Anand Mahindra, President, India Design Council said “This understanding between India Design Council and UK Design Council is a significant step for both the countries as it initiates a formal platform for cooperation. This cooperation will facilitate exploration of design isssues critical to both the countries and exchange of ideas. It will help to develop capability, increase knowledge ,generate business for design and encourage businesses to use design”

The MoU will lay focus on mutual exchanges on design policies and facilitate design promotion and to enhance understanding of emerging trends, design domain developments, sharing of design knowledge and resources through focused activities and joining in existing activities on either side;

IDC is an autonomous body setup by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and UK Design Council, is a charity incorporated by Royal Charter which champions great design.

The expansion and development of cooperation between the two organizations will contribute to enhance cooperation between India and United Kingdom in the domain of design. The bilateral cooperation can build a firm base for a bright future and could be a platform for both the parties to leap onto the next level of design.

Both the parties will encourage and develop cooperation and exchanges in the field of design on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, and reciprocity. The parties will make every effort to promote favorable conditions for the fulfillment of this cooperation and these exchanges.

The parties will enhance understanding of emerging trends, design domain developments, sharing of design knowledge and resources through focused activities and joining in existing activities on either side.

In accordance with the National Design Policy, 2007, the four new National Institutes of Design (NID) may soon be established in a year or two i.e. by 2014 or 2015 according to Pradyumna Vyas, Director, National Institute of Design (NID) who was in the capital for the 3 th CII NID Design Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Institute of Design.

Source: India Education Dairy and India Edu News

NID to redesign Tirupati museum

With the National Institute of Design (NID) bagging the project to redesign the three-decade-old Sri Venkateshwara Museum at Tirupati, devotees to the Andhra Pradesh shrine will be able to see the history of one of the richest and most protected shrines in the world.

The institute, given the project by the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Museum Project Committee, will revamp the temple museum located adjacent to the temple complex in two-year time.

The temple museum body took almost one year to finalise the project with NID, which has formed a core team, led by NID faculty Anil Sinha with colleagues Mihir Bhole, Krishnesh Mehta and Bhadresh Shukla to overlook the project as part of the institute's consultancy services.

"Currently, the museum has no thematic sequence or story. Our idea is to engage with the lakhs of devotees who wait for several hours before they get to enter the temple premises for darshan or prayers. We plan to divide the museum into three areas — pilgrimage, homage and passage. We will try to weave the story of Lord Venkateshwara and the temple around it," said Sinha.

While NID's core team have come up with a concept for the museum, they will research the artifacts within the museum in the next six months.

Source: The Indian Express

Destiny's design: Rag-picker makes it to NID

Sanjay Parmar spent much of his childhood picking rags, sifting through mounds of waste at Rama Pir No Tekro in Vadaj area of Ahmedabad to supplement the family's meagre income. Sanjay's father Dineshbhai was a driver and barely managed to put food on the table for his three children. On lucky days, he would find a pair of footwear for his little sister Manisha in the garbage. When bored, Sanjay would fashion boats out of waste paper and cars from discarded thermocol packaging.

Then destiny intervened. At 19, Sanjay is perhaps the only one with a rag-picking past to make it to the country's premiere design school 'National Institute of Design' - and aims to become an automobile designer.

But first, he wants to design is an aid which cuts the burden of LPG cylinder deliverymen. "I have seen my father break his back delivering cylinders in multi-storey houses which don't have lifts. It is my dream to design a simple aid," he says.

The young boy's life turned when he was selected as one of eight kids who were enrolled in a special project by NGO Visamo Kids which gave bright children from poor families a chance at a good education. "If I was not plucked out of the slums and given an education, I would not have gone beyond class X. All my best friends are school dropouts", says Sanjay.

Initially, it was tough for Sanjay to adjust to the new world. "He was an angry, stubborn child. He was not good at learning and writing but he was good with his hands," says Amee Shah, boarding in-charge of Visamo Kids. Sanjay calls Amee his second mother. While the residential programme covers education till class XII, an anonymous donor came forward to fund his education when he made it to NID. He was also trained by city-based designer Bhanvar Rathore for the entrance test.

"I did not have the means to educate Sanjay; I could just provide him a roof. When he becomes a man, he will buy us a house," says Dineshbhai.

Source: TOI

Anand Sharma lays foundation for National Institute of Design, Hyderabad

Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma Saturday laid the foundation stone of the National Institute of Design (NID) here.

The NID, which is coming up on 30 acres of land on the campus of University of Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 155 crore, is expected to offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses from 2015-16 for 500 students.

This will be the fourth NID campus in the country. The institute was established in Ahmedabad in 1961 and has its campuses in Gandhinagar and Bangalore, offering graduate and postgraduate diploma courses in 18 disciplines.

NID Hyderabad is one among the four NIDs being set up under the national design policy of 2007.

The minister on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the second NID in Haryana's Kurukshetra district.

Sharma said two more NIDs were planned in Jorhat ( Assam) and Bhopal to cater to the students of the respective regions.

The institute will help student community towards shaping their career in most creative sectors and is also expected to benefit the industry to improve their quality of products.

The NID is useful to a broad spectrum from industrially mass produced good to handicrafts, handlooms and skill oriented artisan communities like potters, painters, weavers, carpenters, leather, brass, silver craftsmen.

The minister said the government aimed to make India a major design hub for exports by producing 15,000 top engineers in five years

"Finland has 145 designers per million population, Japan 90 per million whereas India has a dismal two designers per million population. This needs to change in the next five years and we should aim to create a pool of 15,000 top designers. India should eventually become an outsourcing hub for designers," Sharma said.

He called for weaving in a philosophy of design into education and building linkages with education system.

Sharma pointed out that national design policy was announced with the aim of building on traditional knowledge skills and capabilities and to ensure that "our shop floor workers, craftsmen and artisans become equal partners in manufacture of innovative products and contemporisation of traditional crafts".

The minister said World Pharma Trade Centre would soon be set up at Hyderabad keeping in view the large presence of pharmaceutical companies and research institutions in and around the city.

He said Indian Institute of Foreign Trade would also come up soon at Visakhapatnam with the aim of creating a pool of trained manpower to deal with foreign trade.

Foundation stone will also be laid for a new footwear design and development institute at Hyderabad in the next month.

Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy were among those who attended the ceremony. 

Source: TOI

NID set to give Heritage Railway Sites a Facelift

The National Institute of Design (NID) and the Ministry of Railways is set to enter into a collaboration to give a facelift to heritage railway sites across the country.

The National Rail Museum (NRM) and its heritage wing in Delhi will soon partner with NID to sign an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) wherein design students will promote railway’s heritage sites in the country.

As part of the project, students of the design institute will disseminate information at rail museums through digital technology and light, sound and interactive media, designing souvenirs and outdoor signages. “The idea is to give railway museums a facelift and make them more tourist-friendly through effective design intervention, booklets and digital communication,” said Pradyumna Vyas, director of the NID.

The project will cover railway lines built in the nineteenth and early twentieth century by the British in India, like in Darejeeling, Kalka-Shimla, Kangra valley, Kashmir, Nilgiri mountains in southern India and Matheran in Maharashtra.

The railway lines in Darjeeling, Nilgiri mountains and Kalka-Shimla have already been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The project will be part of the course for NID students. “Souvenirs form a big part of tourism promotion in any country. So it is a great work experience for design students to create relevant designs that showcase the same,” Vyas said.

Officials from heritage wing of the Indian Railways had visited NID last month to explore the possibility of partnering with the institute.

Source: indianexpress

NID gets Cabinet Nod to Award Degrees

The Union Cabinet announced Thursday that it has “approved the declaration of the National Institute of Design (NID) by Parliament by law as an ‘Institution of National Importance’.”

“The status of ‘Institution of National Importance’ would authorise NID, Ahmedabad, to award degrees to its students. This, in turn, may prove to be beneficial for students who wish to pursue post-graduation,” the Cabinet said in a statement. Currently, NID offers diplomas and PG diplomas.

NID director Pradyumna Vyas said in Ahmedabad that he was “extremely happy and thankful” to the Cabinet for approving NID’s new status and expressed the hope that the development would not only benefit design education, but also the aims and objectives of the India Design Council and national design policy.

Meanwhile, Gujarat’s Higher Education Commissioner Jayanti Ravi has said that her department is translating and will print and circulate a Gujarati version of a book on design by veteran designer and ex-NID faculty Kumar Vyas as the textbook for an introductory course on design that universities in the state can offer.

Source: expressindia

NID holds its 33rd convocation

Around 250 post-graduate and under-graduate students of National Institute of Design (NID) received their diplomas at the institute’s 33rd convocation ceremony on Thursday.

Addressing the gathering, CMD of Mahindra& Mahindra, Anand Mahindra, who is also the chairman of NID’s governing council, said degrees in designing were like the new MBAs.

“I can smell a revolution in the air as I stand here at the campus.The future belongs to artists, designers, inventors, innovators and explorers. There are battlefields like workplaces and public landscapes where you will have to bring in change.We will do our best to multiply your tribe (designers),” he said while talking about the four new NIDs that are being mentored by the NID, Ahmedabad.

In his welcome address, NID director Pradyumna Vyas highlighted four new collaborative agreements that the institute has signed with similar entities across the world.

NID is awaiting Central nod for a “Centre of Excellence” status for itself. If it comes, the institute will get Rs 25 crore for infrastructure development from the Centre.

Noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who was the chief guest for the event, also spoke, urging young designers to develop a “new paradigm of culture through design”.

Source: Express India

NID Hall Tickets Dispatched

NIDians begin Job Mela with Rs. 38 Lakh offer

If the whopping Rs38 lakh per annum offer to two students, the highest ever package offered to a student of National Institute of Design (NID) is anything to go by, the economic slowdown does not seem to have affected the prospects of design students. Placements Season-2012 at NID began on Friday.

The offer by Japan-based Toshiba company is reportedly more than three times higher than the highest offer made last year — thanks to a new initiative by the institute called Student Online Portfolios. This initiative aims to connect industries and students to minimise the gap between education, research and industries. The portfolios can be accessed by design community and industries.

As per the figures shared by the institute last year, Rs11.08 lakh per annum was the highest salary offered to students. In a press release, the institute said that on the first day of placements, 32 companies, including big names like Honda R&D (India) Pvt Ltd, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Titan Industries and Toshiba, had participated.

Source: DNA News

NIDian wins I-Design Award

A product design student from National Institute of Design bagged the award in the 'Medical Equipment and Devices Design' category for 2012-13 with three other recipients in the I-Design Award competition in Chennai. Every year, products that focus on innovation, technology, design and creativity are recognized by the awards.

Malav Sanghvi of NID had participated in the competition with his project 'Walking Aid support stick'. "There is a need for design inputs in the field of amputation and prosthesis. I emphasized on the needs of the persons with disability to use of the hand's muscular power to operate the leg by a strategically designed stick. The aid can be used for physical ailments like weak leg muscles, muscle tear, ligament tear, knee problems, paralysis, short foot and prosthesis training," he said. The stick is strapped on the leg, thigh, below knee, ankle and one of the forearms. The high point of the design is adjustability of straps by which the user transfers maximum force from the hands to the legs. 

The compactness of the device allows for easy packaging and subsequent ease in transportation and storage. The strap can be rotated, thus allowing the stick to be used on both legs, said Sanghvi.

Source: TOI

Zimbabwe: Zim-India Arts, Craft Ties Hailed

THE National Gallery of Zimbabwe and the National Institute of Design in India should come up with a curriculum and capacity building initiatives in art and craft to ensure artworks meet international standards, a Government official has said.

Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development, Sithembiso Nyoni, said this in a speech read on her behalf by the ministry's permanent secretary, Mrs Evelyn Ndlovu, during an exhibition of samples and prototypes at the National Art Gallery on Saturday.

Minister Nyoni called on arts and craft centres in Zimbabwe and India to continue working together in empowering their people.

"The Government of Zimbabwe through my ministry is appreciative of this gesture by the Indian government through the Ministry of External Affairs and National Institute of Design. We, in Government see it as the first step in empowering our people.

"The ministry, however, would like to see the programme cascaded to all the provinces of the country so that it becomes national in nature," she said.

She also encouraged the two institutions to come up with initiatives especially on cultural exchange that can enable artists produce more appealing pieces for international markets.

"The National Handcraft Centre and Mbare Vocational Training Centres are good examples where such skills are needed and whatever products produced are of high quality that can meet international standards and will open doors for Zimbabwean arts and craft," said the minister.

Speaking at the same occasion, Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Jeitendra Tripathi, rallied behind the support given to arts and craft sector by the two countries.

"On behalf of my country India, would like to comment the relationship between our countries. We managed to engage our people in a cultural exchange programme so that they can learn and teach each other new skills.

"Talented artists from Zimbabwe visited India for two weeks where they leant a lot and we hope the knowledge imparted will benefit everyone at grassroots level in both countries," said Mr Tripathi.
The National Gallery's director Mrs Doreen Sibanda also took the opportunity to thank the Government's support in their bid to achieve their goals.

"I thank our Government and the ministry for supporting us in our one year project that has today produced results. This has seen us being able to fulfill our mandate of empowering rural women in traditional craft," she said.

The programme took place under the aegis of the Africa India Forum Summit in terms of India's NID, assisted by the New Basket Workshop, while working with basket weavers in five countries in Africa, with Zimbabwe being the first.

Source: allAfrica

Students De-Stress with Garba

These days, students at National Institute of Design (NID) are enthusiastic even after a long, hectic day of class, projects and presentations. For, after class signals the beginning of the garba practice session, which goes on till 2 am.

Navratri comes as a big break for students at various institutes in Ahmedabad, who battle stress on a daily basis. And students across institutes are busy mastering the complicated garba steps.

Shambavi Tiwari, coordinator for garba at NID, said, "Garba sessions are stress busters for us. We work the entire day and get tired but nobody bunks the fun garba sessions. The seniors teach the juniors typical garba steps with the taalis while the dhol plays in the background. Most of the students have also finished their Navratri shopping."

NID, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University and Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA) are among the popular hot spots of sheri garba in Ahmedabad.

The revelry on campuses begins much before the nine nights of festivities begin. Students decorate the campus using paintings, lamps, matkas and sculptures.

Students of CEPT University give a twist to the garba, yet maintaining the essence of the Gujarati tradition. "Our garba does not involve the claps or the taali but has slow, graceful hand gestures and movements. The garba attire is very non conventional with students opting for long, printed skirts and simple spaghetti tops and a dupatta instead of the heavy chaniya choli.

"We do not encourage Bollywood music or orchestras but invite a mandali from a village in Gujarat, which dishes out Gujarati folk music," said Mansi Patel, a final year student of School of Interior Design at CEPT.

Navratri is the time when MICA celebrates its annual cultural festival, Oorja. It is a two-day event with a pre-week long celebration. This year, the theme for the week is the Crazy Week. For seven days, students have several activities and have to dress in a certain way. For instance, the first day was celebrated as Torn Day, where everyone had to wear something ragged, cut or torn the whole day.

"Students are looking forward to the garba and dandia sessions to be held for four days. Themes include Go Green, Inside Out Clothes, Cartoon Tees and so on. Oorja 2012 will end on October 20 with dandia night where other colleges are also invited," said Vidya Nair from the cultural committee at MICA.

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar also host garba night and invite students from other institutes to join in the festivities.

Source: TOI

Asia’s Biggest Design Institute To Come Up

Work on Institute of Design at a cost of around Rs 200 crore will soon start in the east campus of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University located at Surajmal Vihar, said A K Walia, Delhi higher education minister.

He was addressing the convocation ceremony of the University at the Dwarka campus on Monday.

“The institute of Design will be Asia’s biggest centre,” said Walia.

A senior officer said the blueprint of the institute has been sent to the Delhi chief minister recently.

“The work on the institute will start soon. The idea is to make a design institute which will be on the lines of National Institute of Design (NID), but much bigger resource wise,” the officer said.

School of Architecture and Planning, located in the varsity’s Kashmere Gate campus will also be shifted to the East Campus. “The completion of the project is expected in two years,” said the officer.

Walia said IP University is doing well in a private public partnership (PPP) model of education.

“At a time PPP model is not working so well is other countries, IP University has set an example of success of this model of governance. It has registered significant growth in a short span of time,” the minister said.

D K Bandyopadhyay, vice chancellor said the university is planning to start three new centres of studies – Centre of Study of Indigenous Literature, Centre for Film and Culture Studies and Centre for Development and Planning.

Lieutenant governor Tejender Khanna called learning a ‘lifelong process’.

“Academic ambience plays a vital role in the growth of any academic institution besides good teachers, receptive students and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Domain knowledge combined with human values is the need of the hour,” Khanna said.

On the occasion, 67 students were conferred with gold medals and 15,945 students were awarded with degree certificate.

15 students were awarded with plaque/ citation for obtaining 90 per cent and more marks. 21 students were conferred with a PhD degree. Honorary PhD was not given this year.

Source: Deccan Herald