IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation (IITM-PTF) is a non-profit organization housing the Technology Innovation Hub on Sensors, Networking, Actuators, and Control Systems (SNACS). IITM Pravartak is hosted by IIT Madras and funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems. (NM-ICPS). Students from IITM can take up project/research associate positions at IITM Pravartak and also benefit from its educational programmes. In short, IITM-PTF is a research space, an entrepreneurial space, an educational body offering courses, and collaborates with various organizations - all in one.
IITM Pravartak has been leading the way in Cyber-Physical Systems and simultaneously fostering collaborative partnerships with the Government, Industry, NGOs, Academia and Research to benefit society as a whole. IITM Pravartak’s activities include Research & Development, Educational Programs and Student-Faculty Fellowships. Some of IITM Pravartak’s ongoing projects include human motion capture, night-time image sensing, smart water management, and 3D endoscopic imaging, among many others.
IITM Pravartak also houses various startups, like Vyoma Systems, which work on building high-quality RISC-V processor designs and SoCs with ready-to-use verification IPs. It also has multiple startup schemes such as PRAYAS (PRomotion and Acceleration of Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurS) and EIR (Entrepreneur-In-Residence) to help entrepreneurs kick-start their careers.
IITM Pravartak also has ongoing collaborations with The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Texas Austin. On the educational side, IITM Pravartak offers various skill development programs, including an out-of-the-box thinking course and online workshops on Machine Learning, Embedded Systems and Quantum Computing. IITM-PTF also offers a six-month course on next-generation wireless networks. IITM-PTF has partnered with Asha for Education to take computer science literacy to rural parts of Tamil Nadu. IITM-PTF also has other ongoing initiatives Preformatted textin Indian Space Tech and has previously organized hackathons on hardware security and musical instruments.