On 11 September 2023, the Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IIT Indore) heralded a new era of discovery with the inauguration of Prof. Deepak Phatak Tinkerers’ Lab.
Padmashree recipient Prof. Deepak B. Phatak is an exceptional educator and maker per excellence himself known for his path breaking work on a variety of digital technology domains and we are honored to name our flagship initiative, Tinkerers’ Lab (TL), after him.
As many of you would already know, TL is a student managed facility open 24×7 to one and all. TL is our flagship initiative and the first entry point of our engagement with an Institution. IIT Indore marks our 11th TL to be inaugurated. We look forward to many new avenues opening up at IIT Indore in the future.
I was present at the inauguration and the excitement in the atmosphere is worth sharing.
TL has seen many success stories and in this and the subsequent issue, we will focus exclusively on TL to share them with you and also some exciting new paths that we are planning to forge in 2024.
Dr. Hemant Kanakia
Spotlight
Tinkerers’ Lab
The IIT Indore Tinkerers’ Lab is bustling with activity, credit to the enthusiastic student managers who are trained through the IITI Makerspace course. They bring a wealth of creativity, partly due to the fact that they come from diverse backgrounds and interests. Members of Robotics, Aeromodelling, CAE clubs and more are a part of management for this lab.
The team wants to make TL a place where students can explore their creativity, collaborate with partners, and launch their own startups.
This remarkable addition to the IIT Indore campus was possible from the support of two principal donors, Dr Hemant Kanakia Chairman and Founder of Maker Bhavan Foundation and Shri Bharat Desai through the Desai Sethi Foundation with the desire that it would encourage real world problem solving and ignite the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among students.
“What you do in Tinkerers’ Lab is bound only by your creativity. And who knows, the prototypes you make today, may be tiny steps towards your enterprise someday.
But no matter what you do, never forget that the fundamental thing that you will learn in Tinkerers’ Lab is being a great problem solver.”
Prof. Deepak B. Phatak
Former Chairman, Board of Governor, IIT Indore
Read About the Event
Announcements
Navigating the Lab
Comprehensive Video Tutorials
We are on a mission to provide comprehensive guidance for equipment and machinery found in Tinkerers’ Lab. Our goal is to ensure that every student entering the lab can confidently navigate these tools, mastering their usage and troubleshooting common problems with ease.
These videos are to enable ease of use for new TL users. We started with documenting the two most popular pieces of equipment used in TL facilities: the Laser cutters and the 3-D printers.
In the coming months, we intend to build a comprehensive repository of equipment training manuals and videos which will be made available in the public domain for all STEM students across engineering colleges in India.
Love TL as Much as We Do? Join as a Mentor!
TL students are a robust bunch who can create anything they set their minds to. What they need are industry/academia connections to understand real-world applications and build on them.
Contribution from your end is very simple:
- Advising: Input on projects and direction.
- Mentoring: Guidance on career, research, networking.
- Outreach: Expand the ambit of influence of the TLs locally so that the labs emerge as regional hubs for experiential learning.
Excited? Click the shiny green button on the left to join our vibrant WhatsApp community with 150 members!
P.S. It’s a very simple form which would take less than a minute to fill.
