Vellore : VIT team wins 'Tata Steel MaterialNEXT 2.0'

Vellore : A team of researchers from the Center for Biomaterials, Cellular & Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT) at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) here was declared the winner of MaterialNEXT 2.0 hosted by TATA Steel on July 9 this year.

Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Centres (TSAMRC) has been actively associating with young college talents through their 'Campus Connect' programme, and MaterialNEXT is an open innovation pan-Indian event to identify budding research talents and materialise potential ideas.

Team 'Titans' from VIT, Vellore, mentored by the director and senior professor Dr Geetha Manivasgam of CBCMT, comprises interdisciplinary research scholars Pearlin Hameed, Ansheed Raheem, Aswin G and. Jishita R. They bagged a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh after winning the grand finale conducted on July 9.

After four screening levels, the team secured their final spot, competing against 250 teams from across India over six months amid the pandemic restrictions.

In the finale, they were challenged by runner-up 'Team Changemakers' from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and three other teams from IISc-Bangalore, IIT-Guwahati, and IIT-Gandhinagar.