World Ocean Day Lecture

Date : 2023-06-08

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The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and Technology Enabling Centre Nitte (DU) jointly organized a webinar on ‘Ocean, Climate Change, and Public Health’ as a part of the Ocean Day celebration on June 8, 2023. Prof. Dr. Rita R. Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation and distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland, USA, delivered the guest lecture. The objective of the webinar was to raise awareness about the crucial role of the ocean and how climate change impacts the microbiome in human health and disease. Students and faculties had an opportunity to acquire new insights into recent advancements in predictive microbiology with regard to the burning issue of climate change. Prof. Dr. MS Moodithaya, Vice Chancellor Nitte (DU), gave the opening remarks. Prof. Dr. Indrani Karunasagar, Director of DST NU-TEC & Projects, introduced the speaker to the audience. Prof. Dr. Rita Colwell, in her presentation, spoke on various aspects of predictive microbiology. She explained the microbiome profile of water investigated through high-end techniques like real-time and metagenomics and the association of these data in predicting various microbial infections. She provided relevant examples of how hurricanes, global warming, and other climate changes impacts Vibrio outbreaks, as examined by numerous studies. A panel discussion has followed the lecture. Prof. Dr. Iddya Karunasagar moderated the entire session. Altogether 201 participants including staffs researchers and students took part in the webinar.

Last updated 2023-11-18 07:31:31

CREATING AWARENESS ABOUT FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS - NITTE UNIVERSITY ORGANISES WORKSHOP TO MARK WORLD FOOD SAFETY DAY 2023

Date : 2023-06-07

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The United Nations has declared June 7 as World Food Safety Day to highlight the importance of food safety and the role of players in the food chain, from primary production to consumption or from farm to plate. The theme of World Food Safety Day 2023 is “Food standards save lives”. To create awareness about food safety standards and improve understanding about them in the industry, Nitte DST Technology Enabling Center, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), organized a workshop on “Understanding food safety standards” at Ocean Pearl Hotel, Mangalore, on June 7, 2023. The workshop was attended by over 70 participants, including food business operators, small-scale producer organizations, and academia. Inaugurating the workshop, Prof. Dr. M.S. Moodithaya, Vice Chancellor, Nitte University, highlighted the impact of food processing and eating habits on food safety. Mr. Ananthesh Prabhu, Vice President, KCCI indicated that the workshop meets the requests from food industries in the region. Dr. Divya Suresh from FSSAI spoke about the need to create awareness about food safety standards and processes to meet these standards. In the technical session, Dr. Debabrata Kanungo, former chairman of FSSAI Scientific Panel on Pesticide Residues, explained the scientific process of food safety risk assessment with respect to food additives, and contaminants. toxins and pesticides. He elaborated on the functioning of international risk assessment bodies like Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and Joint meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR). Dr. Iddya Karunasagar, former Chairman of the FSSAI Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards, explained about microorganisms in foods and the scientific basis for setting microbiological standards. He elaborated on the need to follow good hygienic practices and HACCP to produce food meeting the standards. He also gave examples of microbiological standards in the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the risk assessments carried out by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). The discussions were moderated by Dr. Indrani Karunasagar. She connected the deliberations of the workshop with the theme of World Food Safety Day 2023 and emphasized the need to understand the basis for food safety standards and the best practices that food business operators from farm to plate need to follow to comply with the standards. The discussions covered improving food hygiene and food safety in all segments of the food industry, including street vendors, quality control, certifications, and accreditations required by food testing laboratories. Dr. Krishna Kumar, MD, CAMPCO, informed the participants about food handler training being conducted by CAMPCO at the chocolate factory in Puttur. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to all the resource persons and participants.

Last updated 2023-11-18 05:33:04

NITTE HEALTHCARE INNOVATION HACKATHON

Date : 2023-05-06

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Nitte (DU), in association with AIC Nitte Incubation Centre, organized 3-day Nitte health care Innovation hackathon between 5-7 My 2023 to provide a platform for students, researchers, innovators, healthcare professionals, & startups to develop innovative solutions for clinical challenges. The hackathon was conducted under various categories; digital solutions in health care delivery, novel approaches for infection control and patient handling, devices and tools for better health outcomes, diagnostics and tools for early detection of health problems, nutrition and environment for better health. The participants presented their ideas through posters/product demonstrations followed by interaction and networking on 05 May 2023 at Nitte Engineering college campus. The inauguration of the hackathon was conducted at the Paneer campus on 06 May 2023 and was inaugurated by Dr Vishal Rao, Regional Director, HCG hospital, Bengaluru. Dr AP Achar, CEO, Atal Incubation Centre, Nitte, Dr G Sriniketan, Chair, Institution Innovation Council Nitte (DU), graced the occasion. Dr Hardik Pandya, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Dr Advay Aundhekar, founder of Docsy Doctor and health-tech, were the eminent speakers of the day. Dr Indrani Karunasagar welcomed the gathering and introduced the guest to the audience. Prof Dr Iddya Karunasagar, Advisor (Research and Patents), explained the significance of the day. Dr Vishal Rao detailed his journey to invent a voice box an indigenous innovative solution to cater the victims of oral cancer who lost their voice and motivated the participants to think out of the box to find creative and innovative solutions to the problems. Dr Hardik Pandya explained his cutting-edge research in the field of medicine with the use of micro-nano-technology. He discussed on development sensor-based medical devices, body fluid profiles to diagnose various clinical conditions, minimally invasive tools, electronic systems in the clinical setting, drug screening, and smart microchips for healthcare. Dr Advay Aundhekar detailed his journey to becoming a start-up. He advised the participants to believe in their potential and to take their innovative ideas to start-up.

Last updated 2023-05-17 10:23:39

SESSION ON “PATENT REGISTRATION PROCESS AND FORMALITIES FOR STARTUPS”

Date : 2023-02-09

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An awareness session on patent registration process was organized for Startups in association with Atal Incubation Center, Nitte University on Feb 9. Since Startups from outstation wanted to participate, AIC wanted to have this session online using zoom. Dr. Iddya Karunasagar, Advisor, research and Patents was the resource person. 41 participants joined this zoom session. During the session, Dr. Iddya Karunasagar explained about prior art search and patentability assessment before starting the process. Information on online free and subscribed tools available for prior art search was provided to the participants. He then elaborated on filing provisional patent and filing complete specifications within twelve months. The process of filing international patent under the provisions of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PTC) was also explained. The costs involved in filing patents and special concessions available for Startups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) were also explained. There were number of questions from startups that were clarified by the resource person.

Last updated 2023-03-13 03:54:00

LECTURE ON BIOINSPIRATION LED INNOVATION-FROM LAB TO INDUSTRY

Date : 2023-02-06

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Bioinspired materials have become an essential part in promoting innovation and breakthroughs in the modern material industry. DST Technology Enabling Center (TEC) has been in the forefront of networking for inter and multidisciplinary translation research projects and creating an ecosystem for the transfer of technology and entrepreneurship culture. The Institution Innovation Council (IIC) is a portal to establish a functional ecosystem for scouting ideas and pre-incubation of ideas. With this note, DST TEC & IIC organized an interactive lecture on ‘Bioinspiration led innovation- from lab to industry’ on 06 Feb 2023. Dr Kishore Paknikar, IIT Mumbai, was the keynote speaker of the day. H’nble Vice Chancellor Prof Satheesh Kumar Bhandary, president of the function, explained the range of activities conducted by TEC and IIC to create an ecosystem for translational research. Prof Dr Indrani Karunasagar initiated the program with the welcome address and explained the theme of the day. Prof Dr Iddya Karunasagar introduced the distinguished guest to the participants. Dr Paknikar gave an overview of discoveries in the field of the biohydrometallurgy industry. He explained about the process of biomining and bioleaching, whereby metals are extracted from the ores through bacterial oxidation. He discussed on various aspects of microbe-associated extraction of minerals & acid drainage etc. He further gave a gist of trending research in areas of bead-type biosorbent technology, electrochemical micro and nano-systems technology and magneto-tactic microorganism. The lecture followed an interactive session with all the participants. A total of 88 participants, including staff from various institutes, research scholars UG and PG students took part in the session. Dr Srinikethan, President IIC delivered the vote of thanks.

Last updated 2023-03-04 04:49:59