IIT-Delhi to showcase 'quake-protecting' innovation

A quake-protecting technological innovation developed by a student and two faculty members at the IIT-Delhi will be among the various exhibits in the institute's 'Open House 2013' event here this Saturday.
"Our rubber-based innovation protects fragile and brittle household items and antiques which end up damaged even in case of mild earthquakes like the one which Delhi experienced yesterday. It protects items from falling off shelves and also safeguards them from developing cracks," Pravin Jagtap, a student involved with the project, told PTI.
Mild tremors shook the capital, which comes under high seismic zone area, yesterday in the afternoon.
Jagtap, a PhD candidate at the IIT-Delhi in the Civil Engineering department, worked on the project alongwith two other college faculty members R Ayothiraman and Vasant Matsagar.

Organisers of the Open House said some of the other key projects displayed this year would include multi-functional wheel chair, fresh and cool smart technology for garments, green power generation using diesel engines fuelled with bio-diesel-CNG and spectrum-aware rural connectivity.
Other exhibits include bio-sensor chip for analysis of pesticide residue, heavy metal and bacterial contamination in milk.

IIT-Delhi, Director, R K Shevgaonkar said this year's Open House will showcase over 500 exhibits.
"It is once again that time of the year when IIT-Delhi throws open its campus to all who want to sample the innovations happening here.
"We will exhibit some of our science and technology contributions that retain the essence of promoting innovation...," Shevgaonkar said.

The event presents some of the most innovative and commercially viable technical advancements developed as a part of the campus' extensive research work and course curriculum, he said.
A live display of research projects developed by students, staff and faculty, technical workshops by industry experts and a guided showcase of the on campus laboratories will be some of the highlights of the exhibition, they said.
'I2Tech Open House', currently in its ninth edition, is an annual exhibition that provides a distinctive platform for its students and faculty to showcase their wide range of pioneering research-based projects.