The season received a record of 350 entries from empaneled premier engineering institutes across the country

Top three teams received  pre-placement offers

Tata Steel announced the Season 4 winners of its much-awaited Annual Innovation challenge - Mind over Matter (MOM), today in Jamshedpur. The 6-month-long programme culminated with the Grand finale held today, where a total of 5 teams presented their innovative ideas before the jury at the Centre for Excellence, Jamshedpur.

KAYENAT FARHEEN & and NIHARIKA SINGH  from BIT, MESRA, RANCHI  emerged as the winners of MOM season IV; VENKATA RAVI TEJA from IIT, MADRAS  bagged the 1st runners-up position and  KISLAY JHA and SANKALP SACHDEV  from BIT, MESRA, RANCHI , secured the third slot.

Prize money worth Rs. 1,00,000, Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 were given to the winners, 1st runners up and 2nd runners up respectively.  The winning team was also awarded with a trophy. Certificates of recognition and pre-placement offers were given to the top three teams whereas certificates of completion were given to all other teams.

The jury for the finale was chaired by Dr. T Venugopalan, Technical Advisor to Managing Director.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sanjay Chandra , Chief R&D and SS, Tata Steel  said, ?Mind over Matter is a promising stage for young minds who bring a fresh perspective to the table with unparalleled creativity. The initiative gives them the chance to work with the expert specialists at Tata Steel's R&D department to channel their ideas and creativity in the right direction. The program has helped students put their insights into application using state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and has seen their proposals materialize. This in fact, is a huge motivation for these students. The fact that Tata Steel is coming forth to recognize these young bright minds and is giving them a chance, is very commendable.”

Season 4 of Mind over Matter received an overwhelming participation from more than 30 top engineering institutes of India including the IITs, NITs and the likes. The competition witnessed a record of more than 350 idea submissions against a total of 12 challenges (topics) put forth by the Company?s R&D team. A total of 12 teams were selected and invited to work with Tata Steel?s R&D team under the guidance of assigned mentors as part of their two-month internship. A total of 12 teams were selected in the pre-finals held on 14th July , 2017 and went on to fight it out for ultimate glory in the grand finale.

Tata Steel has a rich culture of advancement and progress through R& D and is constantly pushing limits on developments that drive productive outcomes. In accordance with its dedication and drive for advancement, the steel major started the annual innovation challenge 'Mind over Matter' in 2014. It was primarily to provide a platform to enable young budding talents to shape to their thoughts, ideate, innovate and work on real manufacturing and product challenges and explore implementation of the idea on an industrial scale. Over the years, the initiative has grown manifold and promises to be one of the most credible and popular innovation platforms for young minds.

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2017. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $18.12 billion (INR 117,420 crore) in FY17. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of nearly 74,000. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ?Industry Leader? in ?Steel category? by Dow Jones Sustainability Index (2015). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has also been felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister?s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2013-14 (received in 2017), Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2016), ?Best-in-class Manufacturing? award from TIME India (2016) and the ?Most Ethical Company? award from the Ethisphere Institute (2016), IIM Sustainability Award (2015), among several others.

Disclaimer

Statements in this press release describing the Company?s performance may be ?forward looking statements? within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. Actual results may differ materially from those directly or indirectly expressed, inferred or implied. Important factors that could make a difference to the Company?s operations include, among others, economic conditions affecting demand/ supply and price conditions in the domestic and overseas markets in which the Company operates, changes in or due to the environment, Government regulations, laws, statutes, judicial pronouncements and/ or other incidental factors.

Kulvin Suri
Chief, Corporate Communications, India & SEA
Tata Steel
E-mail: kulvinsuri@tatasteel.com