The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, in collaboration with the IEEE SJEC Student Branch and IEEE Mangalore Subsection, organized a three-day workshop titled “Innovate-2025: Turn Your Ideas to Reality" from February 20-22, 2025, for pre-final year ECE students of SJEC. A total of 132 students participated in the event. The primary goal of the workshop was to offer participants insights into the ideation process, helping them select relevant industry and socially impactful projects, plan their implementation, document their work, and understand the ethical considerations involved. The workshop began with an inauguration at 9:30 AM at the Kalam Auditorium. Dr. Shashank Shetty, Co-founder and MD of Inspirante Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and Senior Assistant Professor in the Department of CSE at NMAMIT, Nitte, was the chief guest for the event. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of creating a roadmap with detailed project plans, including milestones, timelines, and deliverables. He also highlighted the significance of converting projects into products, especially in terms of enhancing placement and employability prospects. The inauguration was presided over by Dr. Dayakshini, HOD of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at SJEC. In her presidential address, she mentioned about the importance of carrying out a quality project for both academic and professional success. A well-executed project enhances technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and industry readiness, positively impacting placements. The workshop was coordinated by Dr. Jennifer C. Saldanha, IEEE SJEC Student Branch Counsellor; Mr. Glenson Toney, Training Coordinator at the Training & Placement Cell of SJEC; and Dr. Aldrin Vaz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at SJEC.
SESSIONS:
Day 1, Session 1: Ideation-From Idea to Viable Products by Dr Shashank Shetty, Co-founder and MD, Inspirante Technologies Pvt. Ltd. & Sr. Asst. Prof, Dept. of CSE, NMAMIT, Nitte
An interesting and thought-provoking session on idea formation was led by Dr. Shashank Shetty. He encouraged participants to think critically while making the process enjoyable. He presented the SCAMPER analysis which enabled the project teams to consider original approaches to enhancing and changing concepts. He also explained how to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, through a SWOT analysis.
Day 1, Session 2: Aligning projects with UN SDG’s and Introduction to TRLs, by Dr Purushothama Chippar Vice Principal & Dean-R&D, SJEC.
In this session, the resource person talked about the linear economy model, emphasizing the role of sustainability in development while concentrating on production and consumption. In order to help us understand how to make our work more meaningful and relevant to global concerns, Dr. Chippar presented the essential steps the project teams can take to align their projects with the UN SDGs. This talk provided a clear path for making a significant contribution to sustainable development.
Day 1, Session 3: Documentation using LaTeX by Dr Aldrin Claytus Vaz, Asst. Prof, Dept. of ECE, SJEC
Dr. Aldrin Claytus Vaz led us through a really enlightening LaTeX documentation session. He showed us how to easily make professional reports and articles using text editors. His demonstration of several approaches and techniques for learning LaTeX and using AI to improve the documentation process added interest to the event. His useful advice and real-world examples demonstrated the importance of this ability for producing polished, high-caliber work.
Day 2, Session 1: Prior Art Search by Dr Rolvin D’Silva Assoc. Prof, Dept. of ME, SJEC
This session introcuced many ways to find patent filings and addressed important topics such as Introduction to IPR Rights, Patent Search Databases, and Key Search Strategies. His in-depth description of the many patent search websites and tools provided users with a clear understanding of how to utilize and navigate them. The session also included discussions on basis of patent searches, including the importance of prior art searches in the patenting process and how to approach them methodically.
Day 2, Session 2: Literature Review by Dr Dayakshini, Prof & HOD Department of ECE, SJEC
In this session, the resource person highlighted the importance of literature review in the implementation and documentation of project work. She mentioned, a literature review helps to understand past research, emphasize major contributions, and point out areas that require more research. Its objectives are to establish the context, justify the necessity of the research, and contextualize. For better structuring, she emphasized structuring it topically, chronologically, or methodologically. It was emphasized that critical analysis is more important than simple summarizing. She also discussed methods for preserving coherence and assessing reliable sources. The methodical literature review approaches and their function in bolstering research were explained during the event.
Day 2, Session 3: Ethical Consideration, by Dr Jennifer C Saldanha Asst. Prof, Dept. of ECE, SJEC
Ethics considerations and authenticity in research were also given much importance by Dr. Jennifer C. Saldanha, as she explained plagiarism along with its types and how to prevent it, like paraphrasing, use of quotation marks, and proper citing for sources. Along with some paraphrase programs, such as QuillBot, Paraphraser, SpinBot, Jasper, and WordAI, the aforementioned IEEE referencing style was also exhibited; in the meantime, Turnitin similarity report for plagiarism detection was also demonstrated. She also discussed research ethics in biomedical projects, with a focus on using datasets wisely. The real-world consequences of unethical research were demonstrated through ethical case studies. The training underlined the need of honesty, integrity, and proper citation techniques in maintaining credibility in academic and professional work.
Day 2, Session 4: Project & Financial Management, by Dr Binu K G Prof, Dept. of ME & Head-S&P, SJEC.
Dr. Binu K. G.'s presentation about project and financial management gave useful information about the success in planning finance and conducting a project. He gave us PMI guidelines and described the project management framework, pointing out the need to combine tasks to ensure effective workflow. The program also focused on some of the vital skills of management - leadership, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making- with a strong emphasis on the need for a project manager. Dr. Binu elaborated about budgeting and financial management. It was clear how crucial effective management depended on wise resource use and real cost control. The workshop went through critical project management tools such as the Gantt chart for project scheduling and the RACI matrix for establishing clarity of roles. The workshop provided a step-by-step approach to effectively managing projects without losing teamwork or causing financial instability.
Day 2, Session 5: Product Prototyping, by Mr Manish Ajay Rodrigues, System Engineer, Accord Software and Systems.
The Product Prototype talk by Mr. Ajay provided useful details on the design of FPGA-based hardware and software systems. He explained how the ZYNQ and MicroBlaze architectures are used in embedded systems. Discussions were held regarding the AXI interface and additional IP cores, including AXI_UART, AXI_GPIO, FFT Core, BRAM, Multiplier, Customized IPs, and Clocking Wizard IP. He also explained how to debug using the Integrated Logic Analyzer (ILA). Along with offering useful tips on applications like Octave, TeraTerm, and Blackbox, Mr. Ajay also talked on the need of SystemVerilog for hardware design and verification. The training taught practical skills for building and debugging FPGA-based prototypes efficiently.
