Mobilise your dreams

Updated on: Monday, January 25, 2010

The mega automobile exhibition of India, Auto Expo 2010 had a string of young engineering and design students showcasing their work. Backed by their institutions and supported by automakers looking for some out-of-the-box ideas these young people presented their working models, prototypes and concept vehicles at the show. Participating institutes included IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, the National Institute of Design (NID), Delhi Technical University (DTU), Chitkara University, MIT Institute of Design, DSK International School of Design, Institute of Design, among others.

“While on the one hand our students learn from the exhibition and get exposure and confidence displaying their work amongst auto companies, automotive part manufacturers and designers, on the other hand the show keeps them abreast of several new technologies and materials,” says Coordinator, NID, Pravin Nahar.

While most engineering colleges make it mandatory for their final-year students to make working models, Makarand Potdar and Sachin Panchal of the DSK International School of Design, Pune, made their SUM (Sport Utility Motorcycle) especially for the expo. The new-age bike was designed keeping the young and the-not-so-young-at-heart in mind, say the designers.
DTU displayed two of its automobile designs — the Formula Student Car and the Personalised Mover named Mitra. The former is possibly the lightest formula car weighing a mere 205 kg achieved through the use of carbon fibre body and other chassis innovations. Designed by Subhav Sinha, Mitra is capable of carrying a single person standing on a motorised board. “It can be used as a personalised vehicle inside airport corridors, institutional campuses and in hospital and warehouses where low-noise pollution is required,” he says.

Somewhat similar to Mitra was Preflight, a three-wheeler designed by the second-year students of Product Design of IIT-Bombay’s Industrial Design Centre. “The vehicle runs on a battery and is for businessmen who wish to make their experience at the airport more luxurious,” was developer, Sanket Patil’s description. The Department of Transportation and Automobile Design of NID also participated in the auto event. An interesting entry was a car for rural India, designed by Rohan Jadhav, Aditya Narayan and Rustom Mazda.

Mobilise your dreams

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