Latest news with #IITMadrasPravartakTechnologiesFoundation
India Today
24-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
30,000 school, college teachers to be skilled as career mentors by IIT Madras Pravartak
In a push to improve career guidance in Indian schools considered as major, IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has launched a free online training programme that is for 30,000 teachers and educators. The goal of providing the training is to help teachers offer better career advice to training is being run in partnership with BodhBridge Education, a company founded by IIT Madras alumni. The programme aims to reach teachers from 10,000 schools and colleges in all parts of the BATCH FROM JULY 4The next batch of training will start on July 4, 2025. Teachers, principals, college faculty, and counsellors can register online until July 2 at The course is completely online and open to teachers from any subject or background. It includes basic training in career counselling, tools for self-assessment, and information on the top 100 in-demand RESPONSE SO FARIn the last six months, 4,215 teachers from 22 states and Union Territories have signed up for the far, 976 teachers have completed it and earned training is free. However, teachers who want a certificate from IIT Madras Pravartak can take an optional exam by paying a small AS CAREER GUIDESMany schools, especially in rural areas, don't have trained career counsellors. But teachers are often the first mentors students turn child needs proper guidance. With this programme, teachers can offer that inside the classroom,' said Balamurali Shankar, Chief Knowledge Officer at IITM say the training will help teachers spot a student's interests and strengths early and guide them to the right career FEEDBACK FROM TEACHERSTeachers who completed the course say it has helped them work better with students. 'It gave me tools I can use to guide students in real-life situations,' said Indrani Mandal, principal of a school in Andhra programme is part of a larger plan to build career awareness in schools. BodhBridge has worked on student guidance programmes for over a decade and has teamed up with IIT Madras on similar projects in the this training, schools will be better prepared to support students as they plan for their future, organisers said.- Ends
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
IIT-M Pravartak keen on recasting R&D playbook
IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation is building market-facing technologies for the benefit of the public. From mentoring startups and collaborating with corporations to supporting cybersecurity systems for government agencies and making rural children curious about mathematics, its work spans a gamut of disciplines. In an interview with TOI, Dr M J Shankar Raman, CEO of Pravartak, spoke about the challenge of translating academic research into real-world applications and what it means to be a non-profit housed at India's top patent-filing academic institution. Excerpts: What does Pravartak Technologies Foundation do? Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems, our aim is to take academic research from lab to field. We support entrepreneurship by funding and incubating startups, forging corporate and international R&D partnerships, and bridging the skill gap. Our focus areas include sensors, networking, actuators, big data, machine learning, cybersecurity, and databases. What's your approach to tech development? While IIT-Madras focuses on fundamental research, our goal is to create market-facing solutions. We support startups developing cutting-edge technologies with our subject matter expertise in certain areas. For instance, we assisted Mindgrove (fabless chip startup) in building IoT chips using IIT-M's Shakti microprocessor. Folium, which works on optical fibre-based sensing and SecurWeave, which develops hardware-based platforms to protect critical software. Moreover, we can take up any area with IIT-M's expertise. The idea is to push IIT's research into the mainstream so that it is useful for society. What do you think is your USP? Our incubation extends beyond technological support. We train entrepreneurs in areas such as finance, marketing, help them get customers, connect with venture capitalists (VCs) and handhold them throughout the process. We provide up to Rs 50 lakh funding for our startups. The venture capitalists usually do not fund deep-tech efforts due to the associated risks. This is where organisations like Pravartak can help. We can shoulder some of the risk and help build the customer base, and guide entrepreneurs to pivot based on market realities. In some cases, we hand them to IITMRP for incubation and hope to complement the ecosystem. We also co-develop technologies with companies like Accenture and Samsung, and help firms find domain-specific talent. What are some of your flagship projects? Pravartak Technologies has contributed to real-time translation of parliamentary proceedings into 22 Indian languages, and legal document translation for the Supreme Court, through the Bhashini platform. We work closely with ministries including Defence, Finance, Electronics & IT, and Telecom, giving us experience in translating IP into scalable solutions. I think we have done a commendable job in this. What's your role in skilling? We provide technical skills for both students and working professionals in areas like AI, data analytics, embedded applications, networking. We aim to kindle curiosity in fundamental research among young students by introducing 'Out of the box' programmes focusing on critical thinking in maths. For India to emerge as a key player in innovation, we need to encourage students to understand maths and sciences, not memorise theoretical concepts. We are taking a small step in that. What next? We have raised Rs 300 crore so far, including Rs 170 crore in DST grants. We became self-sufficient as a tech hub well before the mandated five-year window. When you look at R&D in India, there is a lack of private participation and we want to improve this by collaborating more with private institutions. We mentor 40-odd startups out of which six are graduated. We have taken some bold bets from backing efforts to build commercial hyperloop transportation and secure IoT chips and hope to continue this.
The Hindu
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
IIT Madras Pravartak to offer online courses on AR/VR and Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud
IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, IIT Madras' technology and innovation hub, will offer two online courses on Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud (SFCC) aimed at skilling students and professionals for the industry. The AR/VR programme, offered in partnership with VyVoxel, an international AR/VR/MR company, is a 60-hour online course that will start from June 14. Candidates can register for the course till June 13 at For the 8-week SFCC course, Pravartak has partnered with Codenatives, a US-based IT company. It will offer 70 hours of instructor-led training and 130 hours of hands-on practice. The course will start on June 21 and professionals can register till June 20 at
NDTV
06-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
IIT Madras Invites Applications For Virtual Reality, Online Business Courses
IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has opened registrations for two industry-focused online programmes aimed at enhancing skills in immersive technologies and digital commerce development. The programmes-one in Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and the other in Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud (SFCC) development-are being offered in collaboration with global tech companies VyVoxel and Codenatives. The AR/VR course, developed in partnership with VyVoxel, an international player in AR/VR/MR, is a 60-hour online training scheduled to begin on June 14. Aspiring candidates can register until June 13 via the official portal, Part of the Digital Skills Academy initiative, the course introduces learners to tools like Unity 3D, C# scripting, Vuforia, and the XR Interaction Toolkit. It also includes project-based learning focused on developing AR/VR applications for platforms such as Android, iOS, tablets, and headsets. In a separate offering, the Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud (SFCC) Developer Training Programme is being launched in collaboration with Codenatives, a US-based IT firm. The eight-week course includes 70 hours of instructor-led sessions and 130 hours of practical assignments. Learners will receive dedicated Salesforce sandbox environments for hands-on experience. The programme is designed to accommodate global time zones, including Indian, US, and UK schedules. Registrations for the SFCC programme will remain open until July 20, and classes are set to begin on July 21. Interested professionals can apply at A key highlight of the SFCC course is a dedicated preparatory session for the Salesforce B2C Developer Certification (CCD102), aimed at equipping participants for careers in the fast-growing e-commerce technology sector.
