What does it take to transform an idea into a functional IoT solution? How can academic programmes equip students with skills the industry truly values? EFY’s Vidushi Saxena spoke with Dr Umesh Dutta to explore how Arduino and Manav Rachna are bridging the gap between learning and real world innovation.
Q. How did Manav Rachna decide to collaborate with Arduino Labs?
A. Arduino has clearly established itself as a frontrunner in the tech space. With a global community of over 36 million open source users, it stands out not only for its popularity in schools but also for its widespread adoption in higher education and industry for prototyping applications. Teams worldwide, working on diverse R&D projects and innovations, rely on Arduino to bring their ideas to life.
When we learned about Arduino’s initiative to set up their India team and expand their presence, we reached out to share our vision for education and skills development. The alignment was natural, a shared mission and common dream. Both organisations are committed to empowering individuals with the technology and skills required for the modern era, while also addressing the challenges of an evolving ecosystem and advancing sustainability goals.
This shared vision became the foundation of our partnership, which is already taking shape successfully. Our goal is ambitious: to empower over 10,000 teachers by training and equipping them with knowledge and expertise on the Arduino platform. With the right mindset and a strong ecosystem in place, we are confident this mission will be achieved.
Q. Who supported or funded the setup for this lab?
A. It is a collaboration between Arduino and Manav Rachna, with valuable input from both organisations. You could say it was a joint investment, as both parties contributed to the development of this course. It is truly a combined effort between Arduino and Manav Rachna that made this a reality.
Q. What would be the estimated cost of establishing such a lab, and how sustainable would its operations be in the long term?
A. The cost really depends on the kind of equipment being deployed in the lab. We follow a three-tier ecosystem. Tier one is about inspiration, which is aimed at schools and called the Arduino Inspiration Lab. Tier two is invention, designed for higher education institutions such as universities and colleges, and is referred to as the Arduino Invention Lab. The third tier is innovation, which is for R&D hubs in industry, known as the Arduino Innovation Lab. It is, therefore, an inspiration, an invention, and an innovation three-tier ecosystem widely followed in this space.
The investment varies depending on the hardware chosen. Arduino’s global team provides recommended standards, which include access to curated courses and online learning content along with the hardware. Typically, the cost starts at around 6 to 8 lakh rupees, and from there, the sky is the limit, as the setup can be customised depending on the institution’s needs. But the recommended baseline is in that 6–8 lakh range.
As for how students will use these labs, it is entirely practical. That is the mantra and the core philosophy of Arduino, which is based on the principle of learning through hands-on experience. The approach is hands-on, focused on project-based learning (PBL) and problem-based learning. Students will be encouraged to experiment with hardware, write programs, test them on actual devices, and build their understanding through practice, rather than relying only on theoretical concepts.
Of course, theory provides the foundation, and Arduino ensures that foundation is covered through structured online content. Their learning channels provide a strong base of knowledge covering everything students need to get started with the hardware and software. This content is available for free, allowing students to access it anytime, anywhere, from any device, including laptops and mobile phones, ensuring a seamless learning experience.
Finally, there is also a global certification component. Students who want to demonstrate their skills can take the certification exams set by Arduino. Depending on their performance, they can earn globally recognised credentials, which will be very valuable for their professional careers.
Q. What types of projects will students be able to create upon completing the program?
A. Arduino offers a wide range of boards designed for different domains. There are boards for IoT applications, boards for machine learning and AI, dedicated hardware for robotics, and specific solutions tailored for industrial use cases.
In industries, for example, programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, are extensively used in warehouses and factories for production. For these types of ecosystems, Arduino offers a wide range of products that students can use to design industrial applications.
In robotics, Arduino offers options such as the Alvik robot and the Arduino Uno R4, a recently released and manufactured made-in-India board by Kaynes, a leading company operating in India. This is a significant milestone because the boards used for innovation are now being produced domestically, ensuring better availability and accessibility.
For IoT, the boards are very cost-effective, with some available for under 20 dollars. They come with Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities, making it easy to connect to the internet and exchange data. Arduino also has a strong cloud ecosystem, which enables seamless integration for building cloud-based applications and controlling devices through Arduino hardware.
Equally important is the strength of the Arduino community. With more than 36 million open source developers worldwide, it is an enormous peer group constantly building, sharing, and troubleshooting. If you run into challenges, you are never alone. Answers, guidance, and suggestions are always accessible from people around the world who are working with the same technology. That collective support makes a huge difference.
Not only do you get versatile and affordable hardware, but you also gain access to a vibrant and supportive community that helps you achieve your goals more quickly and effectively.
Q. Will faculty be involved in guiding students in this lab, or will mentorship come exclusively from industry leaders in IoT?
A. Faculty play a crucial role in this entire ecosystem. The hardware portfolio is highly diverse. For example, the Pro series includes many advanced boards, while machine learning and AI applications require entirely different hardware. Then there are small-form-factor boards, which bring another unique set of possibilities. Due to this diversity, faculty members become the backbone of the system. They mentor teams, guide students in developing skills for specific domains, and help them kick off their journeys.
For startups, faculty provide mentoring and support in refining problem statements and exploring solutions. For students who simply want to build general skills, mentors are equally available to guide them. At the same time, industry plays a vital role because the real-world use cases for these technologies exist there. Industries can approach academia with the problems they face, and together they can collaborate on finding solutions.
This creates a powerful interface between industry and academia, where academia not only prototypes ideas but also works toward delivering end-to-end solutions that meet industry requirements at scale. That is the direction we want to see evolve in the near future: industry presenting problem statements, academia working on them with industrial support, and both coming together to take those solutions all the way to deployment.
Q. How will Manav Rachna support startups or student ventures emerging from this innovation hub?
A. We have established an internal ecosystem to support startups, and the journey of our Innovation and Incubation Foundation has undergone significant evolution over the past few years. Recently, we established it as a Section 8 vertical dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship. Its purpose is to mobilise student startups, connect them with industry, and provide the proper support. Importantly, this is not limited to Manav Rachna, but is intended for the wider community. The vision is to bring together student innovators, talented faculty, and the community to create solutions for real problems faced by society and industry.
We follow a simple yet powerful mantra: to support students from ideation to mentoring to seed funding. To give wings to any idea, three pillars are essential. The first is mentoring, which is the most critical. The second is funding, because without seed funding, giving a startup an idea is like giving someone a car without providing the fuel to drive it. Seed funds provide that fuel. The third is market access, which comes from industry. Startups need to know who they are designing for, how to approach the market, and how to ensure their solution is sustainable.
On campus, we provide all three. We have the right experts to mentor students, access to seed funding through our own university support, venture capital networks, and various government schemes that strongly encourage young innovators and entrepreneurs. In fact, there are numerous schemes available today that students and faculty can use to advance their projects.
Finally, we ensure that students establish the right industrial connections, providing them with an understanding of the market and how to reach it quickly, sustainably, and effectively.
Q. How do you plan to measure the success of students, through job placements, patents, or the creation of new businesses?
A. At first glance, the startup ecosystem may seem exciting, but the reality is often more challenging. Not every startup will achieve the cash flow initially envisioned. Yet, there are other valuable outcomes: many startups generate intellectual property such as utility patents, copyrights, or trademarks that can hold significant value and may be leveraged in various ways later.
This is why we strongly encourage students to focus on intellectual property rights. We guide them in filing patents, copyrights, trademarks, and other protections to ensure their innovations are secure. Protecting an idea through the appropriate IPR is the first structured step toward bringing it to market.
We also support students through various initiatives. For instance, the Government of India, via AICTE, runs KAPILA, a program that raises awareness about IPR and provides funding support for filing patents and related activities.
By emphasising a professional and serious approach to intellectual property, we have seen many student startups successfully generate IPRs, adding substantial value to the ventures they build.
Q. Do you envision this model being expanded to other universities?
A. I think there are two main dimensions to this. First, we have established the Arduino Innovation and Learning Hub on our campus, with a primary focus on innovation and learning. Any university or school can approach us for support, and we are more than happy to share our knowledge and expertise with them.
The second dimension is mobilising labs. If any higher education institution or school is interested in setting up these types of labs, we are fully available to help them establish and get them operational. This includes providing hands-on support at the ground level to ensure that the labs and ecosystems are fully operational and ready to function effectively.
We also provide learning support. We are happy to share our experience and knowledge through faculty development programs, train-the-trainer initiatives, student induction programs, short-term workshops, long-term courses, as well as summer and winter training programs. Whatever is needed to handhold and support schools or institutions, we are committed to providing it.
Both Arduino and Manav Rachna are dedicated to ensuring the success of every learner and innovator who engages with Arduino technology. We want to make sure that anyone taking up innovation or initiatives around this technology has the guidance, resources, and ecosystem they need to succeed.
Q. Will this opportunity also be available to students who are not enrolled at Manav Rachna International University?
A. It is not just about our internal students and faculty; it is about the community and the entire ecosystem we aim to empower. The scope of this collaboration extends far beyond Manav Rachna alone. It is for all tech enthusiasts, hobbyists, innovators, and entrepreneurs who want to develop and create.
We are very open to collaboration and support. We are pleased to share our knowledge and guidance on how to build your own projects, set up labs on your premises, and ensure the success of your initiatives. Suppose anything extra is needed beyond the standard steps to ensure a project’s success. In that case, we are fully committed to providing the handholding and support necessary for ventures and projects to achieve their full potential.
Q. During the event, two products were launched: the Vande IoT platform and the Arduino Uno R4 book. Could you please elaborate on these?
A. The discussion with the Arduino team began when the Arduino Uno R4 board was launched in India. I requested sample hardware to tinker with, and soon we realised the need for strong, India-focused content. Many students would be using the board, which comes with popular sensors, WiFi, and Bluetooth features for designing applications.
We developed a book with 25 experiments and activities, complete with code, because the Uno R4 differs significantly from the R3. The board is advanced, built on an ARM Cortex-M4 with a Renesas controller, and supports hardware interface devices, including SPI, I2C, ADC, DAC, and PWM functionality. The book also covers integration with Arduino Cloud, enabling students to build real-time IoT applications.
In parallel, we launched Vande IoT, a free cloud platform at Vandeiot.in. It provides APIs for any hardware and a drag-and-drop builder for creating dashboards without programming. Our goal is to give students, tinkerers, faculty, and industry professionals an accessible, indigenous platform to test IoT projects, remove financial barriers, and empower innovation using Arduino technology.
Q. Is there a revenue model in place, or is this currently just an investment?
A. We want people to start leveraging IoT technology immediately. It is a transformative technology with countless use cases, and making it accessible is crucial for national progress.
One reason IoT has not reached its full potential is the challenge of hardware and cloud access. Arduino has addressed the hardware side with low-cost boards now widely available in India for students, faculty, and industry professionals. On the cloud side, we provide a free solution that anyone can use to get started.
Looking ahead, additional features will be introduced, including AI and machine learning integration, as well as new APIs to help scale IoT applications. While some of these advanced features may become paid in the future, the platform is currently entirely free to use.
