Bhubaneswar, May 19: A four-member students’ team from Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), the faculty of engineering and technology of SOA Deemed to be University, has won the prestigious ‘People’s Choice Award’ at TECHgium 2026, the flagship open innovation challenge organised by L&T Technology Services (LTTS).
The grand finale of the ninth edition of the national-level competition was held at the LTTS campus in Mysuru on May 14 and 15. The event aimed at bridging the gap between academia and industry by providing engineering students a platform to develop innovative solutions for real-world industrial challenges in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics and smart manufacturing.
The award-winning ITER team comprised Koustav Bera, Tanishq Bhakuni, Swetanjana Maity and Ayan Bhattacharjee. Mentored by Dr. Ayes Chinmay, the team received recognition for its innovative project titled ‘C.H.I.R.A.N.J.E.E.V.I’.
More than 62,000 students from over 540 engineering institutions across India participated in the competition. Following a rigorous nine-month evaluation and mentoring process guided by LTTS engineers and industry experts, only 34 teams advanced to the final stage to present functional prototypes before a distinguished jury.
The achievement highlights ITER’s growing reputation in engineering education, research and emerging technologies. It also reflects the support extended by AIC-SOA Foundation under the Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog in promoting innovation, startup culture and deep-tech research among students.
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