Maker Bhavan Foundation Crowns Winners of Vishwakarma Awards 2025

India, 27 January 2026: Maker Bhavan Foundation successfully concluded the Vishwakarma Awards 2025 at IIT Indore. The grand finale, held in the presence of Dr. Hemant Kanakia, Chief Guest, Prof. Suhas Joshi, Director, IIT Indore, and Mr. Gautam Khanna, President and CEO, Maker Bhavan Foundation, marked the culmination of a cross-border innovation journey that brought together some of the most promising student innovators from India and SAARC countries.

Structured as a hardware focused challenge, the awards are built to push student innovation ideas into real world application. The 2025 edition engaged 3,600 undergraduate and postgraduate STEM students from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. From an initial pool of 1,000 teams, a nine-month cycle of prototyping, technical evaluation, and expert mentoring, the playing field was narrowed down to 12 finalist teams. 

At the final showcase, shortlisted teams presented working hardware prototypes across HealTech, Smart Mobility, and Artificial Intelligence, with a strong focus on embedding AI directly into physical systems rather than positioning it as a standalone software layer. In the Smart Mobility category, Team VAYU-SETU from Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology (VESIT), comprising Harsh Tejwani and Mohammed Ujjainwala, secured first place, followed by Team VIHANG from Adamas University, comprising Kamruzzaman Mondal, Shambhavi Shekhar Singh, Pritam Debnath, and Srishti Paul. In the Intelligent Machines category, Team Adaptive Modular Arms from IIT Bombay comprising Aarav Gupta, Palash Pangavhane, and Jaideep Lokhande won first prize, while Team Aqualoop from IIT Indore, comprising Atharva Sunil Chavan, Diksha Jaurker, Kaushal Gangwar, K. Reddy Mohamed Sadiq, and Vansh Ruhela, secured second place. In the HealTech category, first prize was awarded to Team Sarathi from the C.R. Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, comprising Bolisetty Subbarayudu, Chiguru Varun, Gollapally Shivaraj, and Shaik Taufeeq, followed by Team FlexoGear from IIT Mandi, comprising Garv Jain, Dhairya Sharma, Manit Arora, Utkarsh Ranjan, and Akshadeep Anand Suryawanshi.

“The quality of hardware prototypes on display reflects the student’s strong foundation in applied engineering and a mindset geared toward deployable solutions. They are solving problems that demand engineering judgement, trade off decisions, and system level thinking,” said Dr. Hemant Kanakia.

“Working with hardware first systems meant students had to navigate real technical constraints, from sensor calibration and signal noise in HealTech applications, to power management and control systems in Smart Mobility, and tight compute and latency limits while embedding AI into physical devices. Watching teams resolve these challenges through iterative design and testing highlighted the depth of engineering skill and problem-solving capability emerging from young minds,” said Mr Gautam Khanna.

Prof. Suhas Joshi, Director, IIT Indore, said: “This hardware-focused challenge exemplifies the kind of deep-tech innovation we seek to nurture—where ideas are translated into robust, real-world systems. The journey from over a thousand teams to a select group of finalists underscores the rigor of the process and the commitment of young innovators across the region. At IIT Indore, we firmly believe that the future of engineering education lies in enabling students to convert ideas into deployable technologies that address real-world and societal challenges. The finalist teams have demonstrated exceptional system-level thinking. Such initiatives play a vital role in shaping industry-ready talent and advancing technology that addresses societal needs.”

In addition to the open category, participants engaged with industry-curated problem statements, ensuring that solutions demonstrated relevance, scalability, and real-world applicability.

Finalist teams have received dedicated prototyping support and participation opportunity in intensive technical and entrepreneurship training at Indian Institute of Technology Indore, focusing on prototype refinement, pitch development, and presentation readiness.

The Vishwakarma Awards 2025 reaffirmed Maker Bhavan Foundation’s commitment to building platforms that support practice ready engineers and entrepreneurs, while expanding access to structured innovation opportunities for students across India and SAARC nations.