How IIT Madras Pravartak’s Mentors Are Helping vivo Ignite Changemakers Turn Their Ideas Into Impact

Great ideas rarely grow in isolation. Behind every student who participates in vivo Ignite is a journey shaped by trial and error, self-doubt, limited resources, and the challenge of turning an idea into a meaningful solution.

IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation, vivo Ignite’s knowledge partner, helps students overcome these hurdles through expert guidance, from curriculum design and technical mentorship to prototype validation and evaluation. As one of India’s leading institutions in STEM education and innovation, IITM Pravartak gives young innovators the exposure and confidence to transform their ideas into impact. In a conversation, we spoke with Mr. Srinivasan Thiagarajan to gain deeper insight into a mentor’s perspective.

Q. As vivo Ignite’s knowledge partner, IITM Pravartak does much more than mentoring, you design the learning journey and evaluate ideas at every stage. How has your role evolved, and what impact has the collaboration had?

During one of the mentoring sessions, a student came in with what seemed like a well-developed solution. But as we explored the problem through design thinking, we began asking a simple question: who exactly are we solving this for? That conversation prompted the student to step back, listen more closely to the people they hoped to serve, and rethink the idea from the ground up. 

By the end, the solution had changed completely, and so had the student’s understanding of what it means to innovate.

Beyond technical mentorship, this is the kind of transformation we aim to enable at vivo Ignite. Through storytelling, problem definition, and design thinking, we help students look beyond preconceived solutions and focus on creating meaningful responses to real-world needs. Watching a young innovator reframe an entire idea after understanding its human impact is where we see the true value of this collaboration.

Q. You evaluate ideas from the Top 200 stage, through selecting the Achiever 30, to the expert jury at the National Finale. What does your evaluation focus on?

Two things stay constant for us. First and foremost is sincerity; how genuinely the student has understood and expressed the problem. Second is relevance about how exactly does the solution actually address that problem, and can its success be measured with clear metrics?

We aren’t looking for the flashiest idea. We’re looking for the honest one, the one built on real observation and real need. This disciplined approach to prototype validation is what helps student projects move from promising concepts to solutions that work beyond the school gates, while giving students the clarity and confidence to present them on a bigger stage

Q. How has the vivo India’s collaboration with IITM Pravartak strengthened student innovations, and why is industry-academia collaboration essential?

Academia explores what science and technology can make possible, while industry brings the real-world problems that need solving.

When academia and industry come together, students get the best of both worlds: the freedom to explore creative ideas and the guidance to make them useful in the real world. We encourage innovation, while industry experts help students understand real-world needs and applications. This collaboration ensures that students’ ideas are valued not just for their creativity, but also for their potential to solve meaningful problems.

That is what makes innovation programmes like vivo Ignite unique, it helps young minds build solutions that truly matter.

Q. What advice would you give aspiring vivo Ignite participants?

We encourage students to look at the world around them with curiosity and draw inspiration from the everyday challenges people face. The process of innovation is as important as the final solution, it gives students the opportunity to explore how technology can address real-world needs, test their ideas, learn from setbacks, and consider different perspectives.

At IITM Pravartak, we see vivo Ignite as more than a competition. It is a national platform where students learn, experiment, and develop the confidence to create thoughtful solutions with meaningful impact.

Every prototype that walks the stage at the vivo Ignite National Finale carries a story of someone who believed in it first.