1995-1999 alumni batch of JNTU-Kakinada is pleased to announce the launch of INNO-V8(pronounced innovate), a mentorship and innovation fund program designed to support and empower current engineering students. We fund the proposals from sophomore (2nd yr) and junior (3rd yr) year JNTUK students that are passionate in developing their idea into a prototype and beyond. Program promotes a platform conducive to exploration, experimentation and creativity mindset. It requires student recipients to excel academically with distinction. Alumni share their expertise by forming advisory panels and conducting targeted meetings to provide valuable guidance and mentorship. Our intent is to promote and open up the opportunities for students in their own engineering major and field of interest.
We plan to limit the program yearly fund to a total of Rs. 2 Lakhs across all the selected student proposals. Time allocated and time spent by alumni through the program weighs more than the fund donation. We disagree on the 'donate the money and disengage' model. Rather, we believe our program's uniqueness stems from the dedicated involvement of a substantial number of accomplished alumni, willing to devote their time and expertise. It makes a huge difference and increases the chances of turning a student idea/concept to a functional prototype.
Per project fund allocation would be decided by the alumni. Alumni panel will decide on the project intake count for the year. It will be based on mentor availability, their time commitment over 3-4 month duration and the fund allocation limits. Student proposals are encouraged from all engineering majors. They can be submitted from a single/multi-disciplinary engineering team or from an individual student. Students submit the project proposals to the alumni panel by January 25th of each year using the published template. Program sets a prerequisite to fully onboard a selected proposal onto the Inno-v8 program. That is, students should work with the university and have a faculty member assigned to oversee the funded project progress and compliance. Student engagement with university faculty during the proposal phase is optional.
Graduated engineering students from non-IT majors are de facto getting gravitated towards IT careers. We encourage JNTUK students from non-IT majors to make good use of this opportunity, take their ideas to fruition, gain confidence and conviction to pursue a career in their own engineering major. To empower women engineers to pursue and succeed in non-IT careers : a guidance sub-panel of female alumni would lean in selecting non-IT projects from JNTUK student teams with women-only and female leaders. At the same time, our passion for IT innovation remains unwavering; it will hold a special place in our proposal selections.
Graduating class of 1995-1999 will take up the Inno-v8 program as a 4 year commitment. During our 4 year endeavor, we establish the framework, policies & a model for future alumni to take the baton, and establish it as the long running successful program. It should build an inspiring attitude in the students and inspirational narrative for the alumni. We envision to see JNTU KKD students from this program achieve a patent or deliver a product that makes headlines in national media. This program's remarkable success should inspire alumni from other universities to replicate similar initiatives. We dream and aspire JNTU KKD to become a hotbed of creativity and innovation, where this initiative ignites students' passion and serves as a navigational compass for their creative ideas.
Five tenets of the Inno-v8 program
S - Share candid feedback on the team’s progress and commitment
M - Multitude of respect for the student ideas, proposals, faculty & teams
R - Reject biases throughout : proposal selection and guidance phases
I - Infix and promote autonomy in the guidance panel and student teams
TI - Timelines will be concise for the deliverables, follow ups and milestones.