BETiC-IIT B innovator Aneesh Karma wins Aarohan social innovations awa

An innovator from BETiC Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Center IITBombay Aneesh Karma won the Infosys foundation 2nd Aarohan social innovations awards in the healthcare silver category The award function took place in Bengaluru on 19th February 2020 in a compact settingThe awards were organized by the CSR arm of Infosys called the Infosys foundation Infosys foundation established the Aarohan Social Innovation awards in 2018 to recognize and reward individuals teams and NGOs for creating innovative solutions to support the underprivileged in India at scale ndash as affirmed by the sourceNative to UPrsquos Bulandshahr district with a humble family background Aneesh and his wife are both polio patients The UP government provided lowcost droplock calipers but they were uncomfortable and inefficient Aneesh started modifying the design filed a patent in 2015 with the help of National Research Development Corporation NRDC With a vision to help the 12 million polio cases in India he joined BETiCIITBombay in 2018Aneeshrsquos innovation the knee anklefoot orthosis KAFO offers a solution for those affected by polio paralysis cerebral palsy neuromuscular disorders and accidents His KAFO is versatile with a 135degree angle flexion for squatting walking and cycling It weighs only 13 kg and can provide support to an individual weighing up to 120 kg Along with all of this it is multiple footwear compatible and is affordably priced Imported orthotics with intelligent sensor systems which control the knee joint through pneumatics linear springs hydraulics and torsional rods are too expensiveAneeshs innovation has also won awards such as NCPEDP Mphasis Universal Design Awards 2019 The Big Idea Summit and Expo 2020 IIT Kanpurrsquos 2018 Techkriti Innovator award and many others In 2019 Aneesh also won the BIRAC Biotechnology Ignition GrantTogether with the award Aneesh and his team were rewarded with a prize money of 10 lakh INR by the hands of the chairperson of Infosys foundation philanthropist and renowned author Mrs Sudha Murthy and nonexecutive chairman of Infosys Nandan Nikleni reflecting token of appreciation and encouragement to create more lowcost innovative healthcare devices for the underprivileged societyOn receiving the award Aneesh said ldquoFor any innovator the initial years are swamped with financial issues that do not necessarily limit but definitely slow down the pace of developing the innovations Such monetarily assistance ease the pressure on that front and allows a smooth channel for the process of innovating a devicerdquoProf B Ravi Founder of BETiC says Anyone can be a successful innovator assuming they have enough fire and have access to a supportive ecosystem This award is a validation of our efforts to nurture promising innovators from rural areas and to make low cost medical innovation a realityAbout AROHAN AWARDSThe awards were identified across four categories Healthcare Rural Development Destitute Care and Sustainability The awards comprised of a promising jury panel including Mrs Sudha Murthy Chairperson ndash Infosys Foundation philanthropist and renowned author Padma Shri Mr Arvind Gupta an Indian toy inventor and science expert Padma Shri Prof Anil Gupta visiting faculty member IIM Ahmedabad a globally renowned scholar of grassroots innovations and Founder of the Honeybee Network and four others The winners were shortlisted from a pool of over 1700 submissions and evaluated by the distinguished jury The ten social innovators were awarded with a total prize money of INR 150crore for their breakthrough innovationsAbout BETICThe Biomedical Engineering and Technology Innovation Centre is located at IIT Bombay with satellite centers in six engineering colleges and seven medical institutes across Maharashtra The initiative is envisioned and supported by the SampT Council of Maharashtra Government and DST New Delhi to accelerate the indigenous development of affordable medical devices suitable for local manufacture and use In the last five years the BETIC team developed and filed patents for over 50 devices and licensed 20 of them to startup companies or industry partnersCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates