Product Development and Innovation Award 

ZHCET-NA is pleased to announce the Product Development and Innovation Award (PDIA) for ZHCET students based in AMU, India. The goal of this initiative is to complement the Vice Chancellor Vision Plan 2017. This initiative will promote entrepreneurship among ZHCET students and help them gain hands on practical training. This will also encourage their interest in Research and Development. Students will also have an opportunity to connect with alumni working in reputed industries worldwide. Some of the products supported by ZHCET-NA in the past include SAE Baja All-Terrain Vehicle, Robocon Parent Bot, and FSAE Formula Racing Car.

Eligibility: All students from ZHCET B.E./B.Tech. are eligible to submit their ideas. There is no limit on team size, branch, and year of study.

The PDIA process is divided into two major phases:

Phase One: Call for proposals (CFP)

Deadline: July 1, 2015.

The purpose of this phase is to identify skills, creativity, and passion for AMU. The proposals should be product oriented only. Some examples include participation in national/international competition like Robocon, Baja, etc., building products as a senior design (final year) project, social enterprise oriented innovative projects, etc. Teams should submit the following by email to pdia@zhcetalumni.com:
  • One page document explaining their idea.
  • 2-3 minutes of video showing idea and implementation plans. The video can be uploaded on YouTube and shared with pdia@zhcetalumni.com.
  • One page document explaining how this can benefit ZHCET and AMU, and fulfill VC’s vision 2017.
  • Resume of team members.
Results of Phase One will be announced on July 15, 2015.

Phase Two: Implementation Phase.

Deadline: October 15, 2015.

The purpose of this phase is to identify teamwork, fundraising skills, problem solving ability, and go-getters attitude. Top 3-5 teams from Phase one will be invited to set up a crowdsourcing fundraising campaign with the help of ZHCET-NA. All funds raised through ZHCET-NA by the deadline will be given to the respective teams to use towards development of the product. During this phase, teams will demonstrate product implementation by reporting their progress via reports and videos.

Award: Winner will be selected by ZHCET-NA jury and will be awarded $1,000.

Winner will be announced on November 1, 2015.