Boost for aerospace entrepreneurship: Boeing India launches university-focussed innovation programme
The programme offers university students, faculty, and budding entrepreneurs opportunities to incubate ideas and access the innovation ecosystem of Boeing.
To help innovators convert ideas into viable business offerings with the potential to shape the future of Indian aerospace and defence, Boeing India launched the Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) programme for university students, faculty and early stage startups.
Salil Gupte, President of Boeing India, says:
“With BUILD, we are creating a platform for students and entrepreneurs to not only benefit from our vast experience and partner networks, but also develop their ideas into path-breaking innovations.”
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Boeing has partnered with seven incubators - IIT Delhi, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore, T-Hub Hyderabad, and KIIT Bhubaneswar - to select finalists for the BUILD boot camps.
Shortlisted teams will compete at a regional level and finalists will then pitch their ideas to a selection panel of subject-matter experts on Boeing Innovation Day, to be held in September 2019. The winners stand a chance to win cash prizes.
All through the program, Boeing mentors and industry experts will interact with the finalists to refine ideas and develop their entrepreneurial skills.
Applicants can submit their ideas, till June 10 in the fields of aerospace, autonomous vehicles, advanced manufacturing, augmented and virtual reality, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, materials, robotics, and Internet of Things.
Over the years, Boeing has invested in the Indian aerospace sector through programmes like the HorizonX India Innovation Challenge, and the Accelerated Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Apprenticeship.
The company currently employs over 3,000 people in India, and more than 7,000 people work with its supply chain partners. For over 75 years, Boeing has been the mainstay of India’s civil aviation sector having working with the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy.
