New Delhi: Bhagwan Birsa Munda Cell (BBMC) at IIT Delhi successfully hosted an Exposure Visit for tribal students and youth from across India on 3^rd and 4^th April 2025 (Thursday and Friday), as part of the Startup Mahakumbh, 2025. This initiative brought together 162 scholarship students supported by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), and students from institutions registered under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA). During the visit, the students explored various state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities at IIT Delhi, gaining valuable insights into innovation, technology, and research culture at one of the India’s premier institutes.

Prof. Vivek Kumar, Head, CRDT & Coordinator, BBMC, IIT Delhi, welcomed participants from different states of India and provided an overview of the various laboratories at IIT Delhi.

Participating students had the opportunity to explore the following facilities at IIT Delhi and interact with faculties and students gaining valuable insights:

Lab visits by the students (Scholarships and Unnat Bharat Abhiyan) on 3^rd and 4^th April 2025

1. Material Lab, Department of Materials Science and Engineering : Under the guidance of Prof. Jayant Jain, Head, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi, the students visited the Materials Testing Lab for Metals and Polymers. They participated in hands-on experiments such as tensile testing of steel samples and observed demonstrations on the effects of liquid nitrogen on an inflated balloon and a rubber band. Mr. Jaswant D. Bara, Technical Officer, and his team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, also provided valuable insights about material properties, enhancing students’ understanding of design for specific applications.
2. Textile Lab, Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering: Under the guidance of Prof. Javed Nabibaksha Sheikh, Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, IIT Delhi and Mr. Nikhil Shaiwale, Research Scholar, Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering and his team, the students visited four specialized laboratories within the department — Spinning, Weaving, Textile Chemistry and Textile Testing. They gained hands-on exposure to the complete textile manufacturing processes, from the transformation of raw cotton into yarn, to the conversion of yarn into fabric, and finally, how unfinished grey fabric is processed into finished textile products. At the Textile Testing Lab, they observed techniques used to evaluate fabric strength, flexibility and crease recovery, offering them a wide-ranging understanding of textile performance analysis.
3. Mahatma Gandhi Gramodaya Parisar (Micro Model Complex), CRDT: At the Micro Model Complex, the students were introduced to the cutting-edge research in sustainable energy and environmental technologies. The visit commenced at Biogas Laboratory under the guidance of Prof. Virendra Kumar Vijay, Centre for Rural Development and Technology, IIT Delhi and Mr. Mahesh Kumar Verma (Project Staff, CRDT) and Mr. Sukesh (CRDT) as lab coordinators where they demonstrated the students about the applications and recent advancements in biogas technology. At the Clean Energy Laboratory, under the guidance of Prof. Priyanka Kaushal, from the Centre for Rural Development and Technology, IIT Delhi and Ms. Imlisongla Aier (Research Scholar, CRDT) as a lab coordinator, the students explored the cookstove testing facility and gained insights into biochar production, and discovered varied innovative renewable energy solutions aimed at promoting environmental sustainability. The exposure visit concluded at Agro-Food Processing Laboratory, under the guidance of Prof. Jatindra K. Sahu, Centre for Rural Development and Technology, IIT Delhi. The students were exposed to ongoing research on Mahua flowers, the development of value-added products, the use of areca nut leaves in cattle feed and innovations such as 3D food printing and rice fortification. They also learned about waste management practices, all designed to address nutritional challenges in rural communities.
4. Experience sharing of different startups: An interactive session took place where the experiences of different innovators and their startups like Svar, Vikash Geosensing and Flomatrix Pvt. Ltd., were shared.
5. Assistive Technology (Solutions for persons with Disabilities journey from prototype to products): With the support of Prof. Rohan Paul, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi, Dr. Piyush Chanana, Lead Scientist and Program Coordinator, NCAHT and Assistive Technologies Group (Assistech), IIT Delhi, chaired an interactive session with the students on developing technologies for differently-abled students/youth through prototype generation, 3D printing, AI-based 3D models and thermoforming processes.

The final session of the first two days of the three-day exposure visit featured a tour to the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), Research and Innovation (R&I) Park. The students visited Bionest Lab, Mechanical Lab and Botlab Dynamics under the guidance of Dr. Ashutosh Pastor, Senior Manager and Head (Incubation), Mr. Anmol Chaturvedi and Ms. Shambhavi Singh, Program Manager (Incubation) at the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer, IIT Delhi. They informed students about various aspects of innovation, like drone technology, its making, functioning and usage. 

The exposure visit was successfully coordinated by student volunteers from National Service Scheme (NSS), IIT Delhi and BBMC staff, Ms. Sonika Gupta, Project Scientist, BBMC, IIT Delhi and Ms. Ahana Choudhury, Research Associate, BBMC, IIT Delhi.