The students of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Centre for Innovation (CFI) showcased around 60 tech innovations built by nearly 1,000 of them across 26 teams during CFI Open House 2025 held in the campus on Saturday.
CFI, a student-run innovation lab, houses 14 clubs spanning diverse technological domains. Conducted annually, CFI Open House features products completely designed and built by students. This event offers a platform for the projects to gain visibility and attract further support from the industry and IIT alumni.
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As per a statement by the institute, this year’s CFI Open House witnessed standout exhibits such as ‘S.A.M.V.I.D,’ an AI-powered humanoid designed to assist visitors, ‘Supersyringe,’ a volume-gated syringe that ensures precise anaesthesia dosage and ‘Drone Swarm,’ a coordinated fleet of drones designed for payload lifting and delivery.
“A vast majority of our undergraduates and a growing number of graduate students participate in CFI and allied activities. I am glad to note that this year has seen stellar performances by CFI teams in reputed National and International competitions while also showcasing some exceptional innovations and enriching our IP base,” V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said.
A number of CFI students are also taking entrepreneurship seriously with teams reaching out to the pre-incubator Nirmaan, he added.
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“Interestingly, this year we filed 15 patents based on the innovations and we are probably looking for three potential startups. I strongly believe that this year, the CFI team is moving in the right path of protecting more intellectual property and converting ideas to a product,” Prof. Sathyanarayana N Gummadi, Dean (Students), IIT Madras, said.
“This year saw a number of teams from CFI embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, with Matterize (AI for 3D printing), Automagri (farm automation) among the first such to incubate their startups immediately upon graduation, while Nirmaan pre-incubated teams like Pravahan (shipping), CGG (drone logistics) and waterfly (mass transportation) are pushing the limits of innovation,” Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal, Advisor (Innovation and Entrepreneurship), CFI-IIT Madras, said.
