We want to be the START UP capital of the World and the new mantra of the Telangana state is INNOVATE, INCUBATE, INCORPORATE: KT Rama Rao

We want to be the START UP capital of the World and the new mantra of the Telangana state is INNOVATE, INCUBATE, INCORPORATE: KT Rama Rao

L V Prasad Eye Institute hosts third edition of ReDx: Engineering the Eye Workshop 

The platform for big dreamers to build the next generation healthcare technology

Hyderabad, July 5, 2015: L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), in collaboration with members of Camera Culture group, MIT Media Lab today inaugurated the ReDx: Engineering the Eye Workshop as part of the Design Innovation Series from LVPEI’s Innovation Centre – Srujana. ReDx (Rethinking Engineering Design Execution) is a platform for engineers, medical professionals, designers, technology aficionados, innovators and big dreamers to build the next generation of healthcare technologies. Shri K T Rama Rao, Honourable Minister for Panchayat Raj & IT, Telangana State was the Chief Guest at the inaugural event this evening at L V Prasad Eye Institute.

About 100 Engineering and Design students from all across India will work on prototypes for their innovations at the workshop, from July 5 to 11 at the Engineering Staff College of India campus, Gachibowli, Hyderabad.MIT and LVPEI will bring in some of the world’s leading researchers, doctors, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to teach ReDx participants about key areas for health diagnostics, analysis, and treatment. The workshop provides a highly focused environment to learn about the key concepts of diseases and treatments as well as the scientific approaches that are currently being used to analyze and diagnose them. They will have access to the forefront of rapid prototyping technology, including 3D scanners, 3D printers, cutting edge computing development platforms, and state of the art optics, imaging tools and electronics.

Speaking on the occasion Chief Guest Sri K.T. Rama Rao eulogized the great work being done by LV Prasad Eye Institute and DR GN Rao, the numbers you have done is mind blowing and all that I heard about the institute is an eye opener. He said, technology can bring about a great change and unless these break through innovations are put to best use, all of it doesn't make sense. The technology in eye care is in a primitive stage and is a great opportunity for budding innovators to bring out innovations. To meet the aspirations of the young innovators Telangana is creating a platform and ecosystem for innovation by creating incubators. We want to be the START UP capital of the World. Youth should come out with outstanding work to put India up there in innovations. They should also customise such innovations to suit India's needs. The new mantra of the Telangana state is INNOVATE, INCUBATE, INCORPORATE, he said. Hyderabad is the IT and Healthcare capital, therefore there it is necessary to integrate both and develop some innovations for Healthcare. I am looking forward to LV Prasad Eye Institute and Telangana working together to spread the reach of eye care. We are launching Mobile Trauma care center in Mahabubnagar day after tomorrow, he added.      

Speaking about LVPEI’s commitment to quality eye care, Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder-Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute said, “We are into the third year of our design innovation series and students who participate in the camp have the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most renowned scientists and doctors in an ongoing collaborative process that will facilitate not only exchange of ideas but also conception of the future of industry. We believe this community to be the most valuable part of the ReDx experience, fortunate to learn from experts and live the dream of being a collaborator some day in the future. This is an opportunity to get out of the building with the devices you build and learn from real feedback rather than just “building in a bubble”. We are optimistic that these efforts will take the best of technology for the eye care of the mostneglected people of the world."

John Werner, Head - Innovations & New Ventures, Camera Culture Group, MIT Media Labs, said, I want this city to become the silicon city for future innovations.

LVPEI-MITRA is a unique collaborative program between the L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad and the Camera Culture group, MIT Media Lab to build and deploy the next generation of screening, diagnostic and therapeutic tools for eye care. LVPEI-MITRA program selects students from ReDx workshops to incubate the technologies at the LVPEI Innovation Center. Students get opportunities to go to MIT and develop their skills further through this unique program.

Talking about the evolution of this program, Dr Virender Sangwan, Director, Srujana Centre for Innovation and Centre for Regenerative Ophthalmology, L V Prasad Eye Institute said, “Over the last three years, ReDx has garnered a large following of makers, builders, hackers, scientists, and more. Three projects from 2014 workshop have reached the clinical trial phase and two students are going to MIT this coming semester. This program is more than just a hack-a-thon and we are serious about going from ideas to reality.”

The Design Innovation Series helps share LVPEI’s interdisciplinary research, design and development cultures and inculcate an attitude of hands-on creative learning. John Werner, the Project Innovator at the Camera Culture Group at the MIT Media Lab will bring invaluable experience and insight to the team at the 2015 Camp. After the in-house evaluation, if a product is considered suitable, support for creating a business model and intellectual property shall be provided to the inventors. These initiatives will help identify the benefits of each prototype and if economically viable, adopt them in to offer best in class services to the institute’s patients.  

Speaking on the occasion, Mr B V R Mohan Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, CYIENT said, “In India, we have an urgent need for low-cost healthcare. This is possible only through frugal innovation using some of the disruptive technologies. ReDx workshop will encourage young students with an innovative mindset to present their ideas to domain experts in healthcare from different parts of the world, and also learn about leading-edge technologies. It will also provide an opportunity to the shortlisted students to visit MIT and further their thinking to build world-class, innovation-led, low-cost healthcare products from India.”

The ReDx workshop, after its day-long launch event on July 5, will move to the Engineering Staff College of India campus, Gachibowli, Hyderabad till July 11.

About L V Prasad Eye Institute The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) was established in 1986-87 at Hyderabad as a not-for-profit, non-government, public-spirited, comprehensive eye care institution. LVPEI is governed by two trusts: the Hyderabad Eye Institute and the Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation. The Institute is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness and a Global Resource Center for VISION 2020: The Right to Sight initiative. LVPEI has six active arms to its areas of operations namely Clinical Services, Education, Research, Rehabilitation and Sight Enhancement Services, Eye Bank, and Public Health and Rural Outreach.  For more information, visit www.lvpei.org