Season 8 of ‘Mind Over Matter’ pushes the frontiers of research and innovation

~ Tata Steel’s Annual Innovation Challenge witnesses a thrilling finale ~

 ~ Teams from NIT Jamshedpur clinch both the Winner title and the 1st Runner-up position ~

Tata Steel announced the season 8 winners of its much-awaited annual innovation challenge for engineering students, ‘Mind Over Matter’. Like last year, the grand finale and the award ceremony was organised using virtual platforms on August 6, 2021 owing to the prevailing Covid restrictions. The finale saw a total of top 5 teams present their innovative solutions to the esteemed jury. A total of 350+ teams participated in this season.

Aritra Patra and Nihit Raj from NIT Jamshedpur emerged as the winner of ‘Mind Over Matter’ 2021. Aditi Singh and Varun Kumar Jha from NIT Jamshedpur secured the 1st Runner-up position. The winning team received a prize money worth Rs. 1 lakh and the 1st Runner-up team was presented with cash prize worth Rs. 75000. While pre-placement offers were awarded to the top two teams, pre-placement interviews were offered to all the other finalists.

Atrayee Sarkar, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “At Tata Steel, we believe innovation is the fundamental pre-requisite to creating futuristic solutions for our planet and people. Mind Over Matter is a one-of-a-kind platform where the brightest young minds are tested with their theoretical knowledge and practical applications under the mentorship of Tata Steel R&D team. The programme aims to boost creativity, foster a culture of cutting-edge research, and inspire them to join the manufacturing industry. We applaud the enthusiasm and the commitment of each team and are glad to welcome the winning teams aboard.”

Debashish Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Technology & New Materials Business, Tata Steel, said: “Ever since its inception in 2014, Mind Over Matter programme has attracted increased participation of young and aspiring students from across India. It has provided students with a platform to showcase their talent and learn from their peers. This year some of the presentations were truly Innovation at its best. We are excited to welcome the young minds and look forward to their contributions for a better tomorrow.”

This season, the winning team worked on the challenge titled ‘Novel photoreactor substrate for wastewater treatment’ under the mentorship of Pinakpani Biswas. The 1st runner-up team researched on the challenge ‘Development of novel composite compound from coal-based waste to produce electricity’ with mentor Sovan K Patra.

Over the years, the innovation challenge has garnered much attention and popularity amongst the students and has created a benchmark for cutting-edge research and collaboration amongst Corporates, Academia and Students. Mind Over Matter challenges the sharpest and smartest engineering students in the country's top institutes, with real-life problems related to steelmaking and steel applications. The winning teams are then invited to Tata Steel to create prototypes of their ideas under the mentorship of Tata Steel R&D team.

More details about the programme ‘Mind Over Matter’ is available on https://www.tatasteel.com/careers/campus-connect/mind-over-matter/. 

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes per annum. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group (excluding SEA operations) recorded a consolidated turnover of US $21.1 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2021.

A Great Place to Work-Certified organisation, Tata Steel Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000.

Tata Steel has been a part of the DJSI Emerging Markets Index since 2012 and has been consistently ranked amongst top 5 steel companies in the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment since 2016. Besides being a member of ResponsibleSteelTM and worldsteel’s Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has won several awards and recognitions including the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse recognition for its Kalinganagar Plant - a first in India, and Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17. The Company, ranked as India’s most valuable Metals & Mining brand by Brand Finance, received the ‘Honourable Mention’ at the National CSR Awards 2019, Steel Sustainability Champion 2019 by worldsteel, CII Greenco Star Performer Award 2019, ‘Most Ethical Company’ award 2020 from Ethisphere Institute, Best Risk Management Framework & Systems Award (2020) by CNBC TV-18, and Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting FY20 by ICAI, among several others.

To know more, visit www.tatasteel.com and WeAlsoMakeTomorrow

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Sarvesh Kumar

E-mail: sarvesh.kumar@tatasteel.com