Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
Techbazaar 2012

http://www.bits-techbazaar.org/

Techbazaar 2012 is the annual technical innovation competition of BITS Pilani. It provides a platform for talented innovators to showcase their ingenuity and use technology to solve the problems of masses which are commercially viable and thus foster the spirit of technology based entrepreneurship.

Mentorship and networking are the two key aspects of this event, since a channelized output is much more likely only when enthusiastic and creative young minds are guided by experienced industry veterans. Besides a month long pre-event mentorship for the semifinalists, the top three finalists get to avail a rigorous post-event mentorship under "Innovation Accelerator Program(IAP)".

The event carries a cash-award of INR 1 lakh. Other than securing a funding opportunity of INR 25 lakhs, the best team also has a scope to get incubated at the TBI, BITS Pilani. The finals at Pilani promise the contestants a chance to network with venture capitalists, funding agencies and successful innovators.

Stages
Prelims: The participants are required to submit the details and abstract of their project idea.
Semi-final: Selected entries will then undergo a month long mentorship period when each project is mated with a specific mentor after taking into account the project's topic as well as the geographical location of the teams, under whose supervision each team has to develop and field test their ideas . Mentors will be from varied areas of interest and this phase shall also involve online correspondence and in-person mentoring sessions.
Based on the progress during mentorship program 20 entries will then be shortlisted for the final.
Final: The top 20 teams present their ideas and the testimony of its successful execution before a panel of eminent venture capitalists, representatives from government funding agencies who shall be judging the event besides looking for projects which they can personally fund. The top 3 teams receive cash awards. But ANY of the 20 teams can be selected for incubation at the TBI, BITS Pilani.
Pinnacle: : Mentorship is not just a pre-event exercise; it has a post-event existence too. The reason being innovation does not just boil down to winning a prize. It's about implementation, it's about start-up, it's about patenting your products/services. So the top 5 teams from the final undergo "Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP)", where they will be mentored by R&D departments of top notch companies. A committee will oversee the implementation and provide step by step assistance.

The following are the Terms and Conditions
1. There is no entry fee for participants.
2. The entries submitted in any other form than the prescribed shall not be considered.
3. The competition is open to all the teams, atleast one of whose members is a student pursuing undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate studies. Only students may present the plan and answer questions from the competition judges. Individuals in University Postdoctoral positions are not eligible to compete as students.
4. The contest is open to all legal residents of any country except, or otherwise, prohibited by law.
5. The maximum number of students allowed to participate is six (6), although there is no restriction on the total size of the project's founding team.
6. Decisions taken by judges regarding the finalists and winners would be final and binding to all the participants and no further queries will be entertained in this regard.
7. There is no restriction on sending the same entry to other competitions.
8. Entrants are allowed to submit more than one project.
9. The organizers are not liable for any delay in submission due to failure of network, server or electricity in case of non-receipt of the entry within the deadline.
10. Teams failing to arrive for the grand finale in April 2012 will not be considered for any rewards.
11. Contesting teams should possess intellectual ownership of the submitted idea or should have written consent of the legal owner to exploit the idea.
12. Every team has to register online on our website for the competition. A registration number will be allocated to the team on registration which shall be used for future reference.
13. Entries will remain the property of the legal owner.
14. Every contestant must agree with the rules of the contest and must agree to accept the declaration of confidentiality.
15. Contestants must agree to accept that their registration form and other entries will not be returned to them, and accept that their personal data will be available for statistical purpose.
16. Note that at any point of time the latest information will be that which is on the site. However, registered participants will be informed through mail about any changes on the site.
17. No substitutions or transfers will be awarded to the winners, apart from the prize money however, EDIPR reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in its sole discretion if advertised prizes are unavailable. Prizes will be awarded in the name of the individual winner or in the event a team is the winner, the prizes will be awarded to the designated team leader only. The prize money will be awarded in the form of a cheque/DD.
18. Winners or their parents/legal guardians are responsible for paying any applicable central, state and local taxes, and all other expenses associated with any prize not explicitly stated herein as being awarded.
19. To the extent that the Submission or any elements thereof constitute intellectual property, it is agreed that in protecting Entrant(s) Submission shall rely solely on Entrant(s) rights under the patent, trademark, and copyright laws, and that consideration by EDIPR and the judges of Entrant's Submission shall in no way impair EDIPR or BITS Pilani's right to contest the validity of Entrant's patent, trademark or copyright.
20. All conflicts are subject to the jurisdiction of courts of the state of Rajasthan, India only.

Contact Us :
For Participation and Registration
Sohail sohail[at]@bits-techbazaar.org | 07891400209
Bhavana Deepthi deepthi@bits-techbazaar.org | 08740830263
For Sponsorship and Marketing
Amitvikram Dutta amitvikram@bits-techbazaar.org | 09772733670
Mentorship and Judging
Arnav Jain arnav@bits-techbazaar.org | 08955945556
Kireeti Mara kireeti@bits-techbazaar.org | 09660694008
For Lectures and Presentations
Shreya Inamdar shreya@bits-techbazaar.org | 08740830265
For Website related queries and suggestions
Mayank Gupta webmaster@bits-techbazaar.org
For any other queries
Sandip Sen info@bits-techbazaar.org | 09680256789