Education Ministry appointed PU to host the Grand National Toy Innovation Platform "Toycathon 2021

Toys are an inseparable part of every form of early childhood development, and whether homemade or factory produced, they have remained a significant part of the growth and development of communities and economies across the world. City based Parul University was selected amongst the few nodal centres across the nation to host the prestigious toy innovation platform, "Toycathon 2021".

This hackathon was organised by the Ministry of Education in association with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises, and the Ministry of Textiles. This innovation centred platform was hosted by the University's Entrepreneurship Development Centre, to act as an idea launchpad for India's toy production Industry.

This multi-ministerial initiative was organised to enhance the scope of India's toy industry which currently stands at 1.5 billion, arming the nation's budding innovators with the resources and the platform to bring into reality their imaginative toy concepts. From about 1.7 lakh participants from across Gujarat who registered for participating in this event with 17 000 ideas submitted, only 1,567 concepts were selected for participating in this hackathon.

This three day grand finale featured participants from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh who were allotted to Parul University. To effectively nurture the participants throughout this event, 645 mentors were appointed for providing guidance to the participants. Parul University was amongst the 85 nodal centres to be chosen by the Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell to host this grand platform.

Toycathon is the conception of AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has been centred on promoting the scope of innovation in India. Through this challenge, the Nation's most creative minds brought together their ideas and concepts to develop toys inspired by India's own modern and cultural heritage, with the hopes of making India one of the world's leading toy exporters.

The Ministry of Education along with the other organising ministries and the All India Council for Technical Education, put together this year's Toycathon with the goal to develop the most sustainable toy designs. Parul University's Cell for Entrepreneurship effectively set up the resources required to make this platform a success, offering its support in paving the way to India's future as a leading toy exporter.

Toycathon 2021 brought together the nation's most innovative students, teachers, entrepreneurs and toy experts who made their toy submissions for prizes worth Rs. 50 lakhs. The first half of the event allowed the participants to receive their mentorship while the second half was reserved for adjudication purposes.

"Innovation is something which I believe has become a matter of great importance especially in the present hour. As India, we need to continue branching our innovations into all the sectors of our socio-economic lives. This is the same way in which we have developed our education as Parul University, a kind of education which challenges the students to continue innovating. I am grateful to all the Ministries, particularly the Ministry of Education for entrusting Parul University with this responsibility of hosting Toycathon 2021", said Parul University's President, Dr. Devanshu J Patel.