Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 17: The Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM) and the University of Engineering & Management (UEM), Kolkata, on Friday inaugurated the 12th edition of Innovación 2026, their flagship international techno-management festival, at the IEM Management House in Salt Lake’s Sector V. The two-day event from 14 to 15 March 2026, has drawn students, researchers, innovators, startup enthusiasts and entrepreneurs from across India as well as several countries including the USA, UK, Australia and Canada, along with participants from premier institutions such as the IITs and NITs.
Over the years, Innovación has grown well beyond a conventional student festival. It has emerged as a global platform for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology-led problem solving, reflecting the strong startup-focused ecosystem nurtured by the IEM-UEM Group. This year’s edition features more than 35 competitive events, over 150 technology projects and more than 100 research posters across emerging domains including Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Embedded Systems, Data Science, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Technologies and Management Innovation.
At the centre of the festival is a high-intensity 36-hour hackathon where teams work round the clock to convert ideas into working prototypes addressing real-world challenges. The hackathon reflects the institution’s philosophy that innovation must move beyond theory and evolve into practical solutions with entrepreneurial potential.
One of the major highlights of Innovación 2026 is an autonomous Level-2 driverless car designed and developed entirely by students of IEM using artificial intelligence and computer vision. Created through multidisciplinary collaboration among engineering teams, the project marks a significant step towards indigenous autonomous mobility research within a university ecosystem.
Equally significant is a water desalinator system capable of converting sea water into potable drinking water. Designed with scalability and affordability in mind, the technology aims to address global water scarcity challenges, particularly in coastal and disaster-affected regions.
Another socially focused innovation showcased at the event is a low-cost electric wheelchair engineered to enhance mobility for differently-abled individuals while remaining affordable for wider adoption. Projects such as these underline the strong belief within the IEM-UEM ecosystem that technology must serve society while also opening pathways for startup incubation.
Several other student innovations attracted considerable attention from visitors, researchers and industry delegates. A Therma Compress Belt, a wearable therapeutic device combining heat and compression for lumbar pain and menstrual cramps, reflects the growing convergence of healthcare technology and wearable innovation. A 3D-printed AR/VR gyroscopic game controller introduces an immersive gaming interface that requires full-body movement, blending digital entertainment with physical fitness.
In the field of intelligent security systems, “Secura”, a web-based deep learning surveillance platform built on a 64-point facial recognition framework, demonstrates the application of artificial intelligence in advanced monitoring and security infrastructure.
Robotics innovations also featured prominently at the exhibition. An autonomous thermal-based disaster rescue robot equipped with thermal sensors and GPS has been designed to detect survivors trapped under debris during natural disasters. Meanwhile, AGNI, a modular unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with dual payload bays, has been developed for rapid medical delivery and aerial surveillance, highlighting the increasing importance of drone-based emergency response systems.
A gesture-controlled robot operated through wearable sensor-based hand gestures further showcased the possibilities of human-machine interaction, illustrating how intuitive control systems can redefine robotics applications.
Adding a moment of national recognition, students of UEM Kolkata recently secured both the first and second positions in the YuvAI – Global Youth Challenge at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, organised by the Government of India at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Competing against more than 20,000 projects nationwide, the first-prize winning project “AGNISENA”, an AI-powered forest fire early detection system, received Rs. 15 lakh, while “VOX-AID”, a voice-based platform for early detection of dysarthria, was awarded Rs. 10 lakh.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by a distinguished panel of guests including Padma Shri Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya, recipient of the Padma Shri in 2026; Dr. Moumita Dutta, physicist and scientist-engineer at the Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO Ahmedabad; and Anupam Agrawal, Chair of the Digital Standards Coordination Committee at the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Prof. Dr. Satyajit Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor of UEM Kolkata, said, “Innovación 2026 celebrates the relentless spirit of our students and faculty. The national victories at the India AI Impact Summit, the driverless car built entirely at IEM, and more than a hundred groundbreaking projects show that the IEM-UEM ecosystem has successfully created a culture where innovation naturally evolves into entrepreneurship.”
Prof. (Dr.) Rajashree Paul, Director, IQAC, IEM-UEM Group, highlighted the transformative energy of the festival, noting that the diversity of projects — from driverless mobility to affordable healthcare technology — reflects the institution’s commitment to encouraging young innovators to develop solutions that can evolve into future startups and scalable technologies.
Highlighting the global participation and innovation ecosystem, Prof. (Dr.) Prabir Kumar Das, Convenor of Innovación 2026 and Head of the Department of Basic Science & Humanities at IEM, said the festival has become an international hub where technology, creativity and entrepreneurship converge, enabling students to transform ideas into impactful innovations.
Besides technology exhibitions and research showcases, the festival also features robotics contests, coding challenges, management competitions, esports tournaments and creative innovation showcases, creating an interdisciplinary environment where engineering, business strategy and startup thinking intersect.
Innovación 2026 is co-organised with the Rotary Club of Salt Lake Silicon Valley and the Lions Clubs of IEM, strengthening collaboration between academia, industry and social organisations.
With its powerful blend of innovation, research, entrepreneurship and global collaboration, Innovación 2026 stands as a testament to the startup-driven mindset and technological leadership of the IEM-UEM Group, inspiring the next generation of innovators to build solutions for a rapidly evolving world.
