BRIGHT IDEAS: A super mileage car and (below) an unmanned automated vehicle invented by the students of Delhi College of Engineering (Pics: Prem Singh)

Ajit Narayanan and his four friends did “cool” things in college. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate from Chennai invented an ATM machine that recognised finger prints instead of pin numbers. Narayanan’s friend Preetham Shivanna devised a solar-powered bicycle. “Whenever he felt too lazy to walk to class, he’d cycle down without lifting a foot,” recalls Narayanan.

After college, though, there was no time to let imagination rule. In 2003, Narayanan went to the United States on work. Shivanna joined Infosys Technologies. “The days we spent making whacky ideas work became fond memories,” Narayanan says.

That is, until the friends met in 2006, relived their college memories and decided to start a company. They set up Invention Labs in Chennai last year — and are doing what they did in college. The company has developed a railway ticket vending machine and an Internet radio, among other things. Narayanan’s ATM machine is undergoing trials in rural India. “We have already become profitable,” claims Narayanan.

Elsewhere too inventions have taken over the drafting boards. Last month, Dilip Chhabria unveiled a super mileage, lightweight car designed by students of Bangalore’s Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering. Students of the city’s MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) recently invented a speed breaker which collapses when a car passes over it to minimise damage to the vehicle. The speed breaker also generates electricity (with the help of a fly wheel) which can be stored.

Some students have even found a way to help fight drunk driving. Students at Chennai’s MGR University have invented a machine that smells liquor. The moment it gets a whiff, it shuts off a car’s ignition. Three years ago, students at Hubli’s BVB College of Engineering and Technology invented a machine that made six rotis a minute.

India’s engineering colleges are indeed becoming the breeding ground for inventions. Last week at IIT, Chennai’s engineering festival, students showcased nine inventions that looked as if they were straight out of a science fiction film. These include an airplane with flapping wings, a sub-plane (a submarine and airplane rolled into one), a self-balancing bicycle and an all-terrain vehicle that can move on marshy land, ice, sand and under water.”

About 35 project ideas are submitted by students every year. The most interesting ones are selected and funded,” says Ravi Kanth, a fourth year engineering student. Once out of college, he plans to patent and market his invention — an unmanned aircraft that can take off and land vertically.

Yet not everybody takes their creativity seriously. Two years ago, MSRIT students devised a machine that could make water out of air. “The machine condensed atmospheric moisture and made 1.5 litres of water every hour,” says S.V. Prakash, assistant professor, mechanical engineering, MSRIT. But before the product could be patented, the students graduated and the machine gathered dust.

“Every year, 50 mechanical engineering projects are done in college. But the projects only help students get good placements and admission to universities abroad,” rues Prakash.

Experts believe that creativity remains a college pastime for most young engineers. Their enthusiasm has not translated into an increase in high-end research work.

A study by IIT, Mumbai, found that 2.3 lakh students graduated from engineering colleges across India in 2006, but only a fraction went for higher education. That year, about 20,000 students acquired a master’s degree and 1,000 a PhD.

“Less than one per cent of engineering students opt for doctorate degrees in India. It is a measure of the paucity of research work done here,” exclaims Rahul Bedi, director, corporate affairs, south Asia, Intel. In the US, nine per cent of engineering undergraduates opt for higher education. “The Indian middle class mindset has been to become a doctor or an engineer and then get a job. Research doesn’t always bring a pay cheque.”

Indeed, companies find it tough to hire research students. “Research-oriented multinationals coming to India seek to hire bright minds from the local environment. But industry is facing a lack of doctorate students to employ,” says Bedi.

The information technology (IT) industry and management and finance jobs have also eaten into India’s engineering mind space. “Salaries paid by IT companies and the corporate sector are much higher than those in space or nuclear energy in India. This has taken the zing out of scientific research,” says P.V. Indiresan, former director, IIT, Chennai.

R.K. Sinha, dean, industrial research and development, Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), believes that Indian industry has to promote research. “Industry needs to help educational institutes patent and sell new products. This is not happening in India,” he says.

But colleges are doing what they can. A fleet of cars that DCE students rolled out could give 007 some ideas. In 2003, the college developed a formula racing car. The students have also invented a super-mileage car that runs 200 km per litre, a hybrid car which switches from petrol to a battery, a solar car and an unmanned, automated vehicle that can drop you to the airport and return home.

For now, DCE’s cars lie locked in the college garage. “We approached Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra to patent and market the cars but the companies are yet to respond,” says Sinha.

Yet a few companies are now trying to back innovation and research. Intel is working in government schools in 15 states and two Union territories to make learning more practical. The company is collaborating with IIT, Kanpur, to change the curriculum of 200 engineering colleges.

Recently, Intel organised a fair in Bangalore in which 10 students with the best invention ideas were given a cash award of Rs 10 lakh each. The award came with a condition — it would be given only when the students enroll for an MTech.

Student mindsets are also changing. This year, 35 mechanical engineering students of DCE — out of a batch of 100 — opted for jobs in core industries. “Two years ago, all students took up IT jobs,” says Sinha.

In 2004, professors of IIT, Mumbai, started the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) to help students with big ideas sell their products. “We help them set up companies to market their product,” says C. Amarnath, member, governing board, SINE. The society has helped establish 30 companies. Another 17 are currently incubating with SINE.

So for research lovers, there’s hope yet. After all, a brainwave today can lead to a tide tomorrow.