IIT Bombay to establish an entrepreneurship centre, to focus on emerging technologies

IIT Bombay is planning to set up an entrepreneurship centre named 'Desai Sethi Centre for Entrepreneurship' to enable technology innovation through new programmes for education and research, multi-disciplinary courses, research laboratories and partnerships.

The centre will focus on emerging technology areas like nanotech and biotech, and its activities will cover the entrepreneurship value chain to include mentoring, micro grants and networking with established entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

The institute has already received funding from Syntel's co-founders Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi, under the aegis of The DS Foundation (Desai Sethi Family Foundation) to set up the centre.

"Students participating in the programme will receive instruction and mentorship from faculty in IIT-B and leading international institutions," said IIT Bombay director Devang Khakhar.

The centre will be managed by an advisory board comprising faculty members, student representatives, industry professionals and two renowned international experts on entrepreneurship.

The establishment of the new centre was announced by the director of IIT Bombay during the inaugural session of Entrepreneurship Summit (E-Summit 2014) which has been granted UN patronage this year.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)