Chennai, April 02, 2022.

CT Academy, in association with Autodesk, launched the India Design Week (IDW) 2022, a unique initiative for future designers to learn, explore, innovate, and design products for different social problems using Autodesk Technology (Autodesk Fusion 360 software). The third edition of the IDW 2022 event was open for ICT Academy member engineering colleges & Universities in the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi NCR & Maharashtra. The event was powered by Autodesk and organized by ICT Academy. 

The event was open for ICT member college students enrolled under Mechanical, Aeronautical, Automobile, Mechatronics, Robotics, and Production Engineering courses in higher education institutions. Around 3,000 students from 75 institutions registered for the IDW 2022. The grand finale of the India Design Week (IDW) challenge was held from 22nd to 25th March 2022 at Sairam Group of Institutions, Chennai.  

The event had three stages. Stage One was a student workshop, where registered students were trained on Autodesk Fusion 360, delivered by certified industry experts. The workshop included activities and assignments for the students to upskill and make them ready for the industry and competition. Stage Two was an inter-college competition for the students who participated and completed the workshop. During the competition, the students presented their designs, and the winners of that competition were selected to compete in the grand finale. Stage Three was a 24-hour design challenge and the grand finale was held at the Sairam Institutions, Chennai. 

The IDW 2022 grand finale featured industry jury members, academicians, and students. Thiru. T. Mano Thangaraj, Hon’ble Minister for Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu, who graced the event, congratulated the winners of India Design Week 2022 and felt glad about the collaboration of the Government of Tamil Nadu with ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu for driving such competitions, for the betterment of the students in developing their skills and improving employment opportunities for both rural and urban students. 

The top 3 winning team were recognized with Awards & Recognitions and few consolation prizes were also given for Best Presentation, effective usage of fusion 360 Software, Generative design etc. 

On the occasion, Mr.Hari Balachandran, Chief Executive Officer, ICT Academy said that The whole idea of organizing India Design Week was to combine learning with a challenge, so as to motivate and encourage the students to brainstorm new concepts and retain the learnings for a longer period. The workshops on advanced technologies like Generative Design, followed by design challenges on real-world problems, could bring extraordinary innovations. 

The 3rd edition has empowered over 3000+ engineering students, which seemed to be an encouraging number during the pandemic. The top 3 winners were recognized with awards and certificates. 

Mr. Deepankar Bhattacharyya, Autodesk India, expressed his excitement on their partnership with ICT Academy for the launch of the India Design Now and India Design Week 2022 competition, as a step towards fulfilling the skill development mission of the government in Design and Manufacturing. 

Mr. Sai Prakash Leo Muthu, Chief Executive Officer, Sairam Institutions, while congratulating the participants and winners of India Design Week Challenge said that it was the 3rd consecutive year Sairam Institutions has been hosting the event and that it has always been a front-runner to host such innovative initiatives by the ICT Academy. He added that the students working as teams on real-world problems would help them to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, team building, and leadership skills, which were significant for the post-pandemic world. 

ICT Academy, headquartered in Chennai, India has been an initiative of the Government of India in collaboration with the state Governments and Industries. ICT Academy being a not-for-profit autonomous organization, has been the first of its kind pioneer venture under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model that endeavours to develop the next generation talent pool. ICT Academy in partnership with Autodesk has been developing teachers and students on Design thinking in the areas of Manufacturing, Automobile, Construction, and architecture.