Prof. Rao Bhamidimarri, President, Institute of Advanced Research (IAR), Gujarat, India shared, “Recently, there has been a lot of talk about innovation, but it is important to clarify what exactly we mean by this term. When we talk about “industry,” it is not a single entity, but rather many different industries that make up the economy, such as the sheet metal industry, the machine shop industry, and the rocket and space station industry. Innovation is the driving force for sustained economic growth, as evidenced by Japan, which became an industry powerhouse through innovation after being completely destroyed in the war. Innovation requires ongoing thinking, creativity, exploration, and out-of-the-box thinking.”
“Innovation comes in different forms and is driven by different factors, such as need-driven innovation and crisis-driven innovation, such as the rapid development of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Different types of innovation are required for different problems, such as semiconductors and advanced computer chips, fusion energy, and artificial intelligence for diagnosing dementia. The role of universities and higher education institutes is not just to prepare students for jobs, but to create human capital that can undertake innovative processes in industry and business. The educational objective is not to prepare students immediately to fit into a job, but to bridge the gap between theory and practical application, so that students can apply their knowledge in innovative ways to solve real-world problems”, he concluded.
