Jai Hari Prasad Rajendran is a son in law of Coimbatore and is married to Ramya, the great grand daughter of G.Venkataswamy Naidu of Lakshmi Mills. He was born to Rajendran and Vasantha of Kovilpatti about 34 years ago. Jai Hari did his schooling from the Lakshmi Mills Higher Secondary School at Kovilpatti and thereafter completed his BE (ECE) from the SSN College of Engineering at Chennai.
Jai Hari Prasad Rajendran is a son in law of Coimbatore and is married to Ramya, the great grand daughter of G.Venkataswamy Naidu of Lakshmi Mills. He was born to Rajendran and Vasantha of Kovilpatti about 34 years ago. Jai Hari did his schooling from the Lakshmi Mills Higher Secondary School at Kovilpatti and thereafter completed his BE (ECE) from the SSN College of Engineering at Chennai. After a brief stint at a medical device company in Ahmedabad, the aspiring youngster went on to do an MBA at the Okhlahma State University in Stillwater (USA). Jai Hari and Ramya have been recently blessed with Sanjana who was born in Coimbatore. He spoke at length about the manner in which inventions made by professors and students in the USA. The conversation was quite enlightening because it helps one to understand the initiatives taken by all the stake holders concerned in order to convert an invention into a viable business idea while also protecting the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) of the inventor.
"In the USA, we have technology development centres in all the universities. Each one will have a name and the job of this facility is to secure the IPR created by the faculty and the students. I was a student worker at the Technology Transfer Office and it literally transfers technology from the university to the industry. Now I am the Technology & Business Development Manager at the Okhlahama State University. The research findings of the faculty members of our university are patented and commercialised through our office. My day to day job is to meet faculty members, understand their inventions and recommend a proper intellectual property strategy. A basic understanding of the patent laws are essential. We go through external agencies in order to file for a patent. In a year about 50 inventions are submitted to us. We are about 4 of us in the office anytime and we split the inventions on the basis of our technical background and take it forward. Basically the inventions at our place are classified as - physical sciences, life sciences, software, veterinary sciences etc., I work with about 5 or 6 inventions every year. It takes about 2 to 3 years to get a patent. Usually the inventions will be at an early stage and therefore they need to be hand held and taken forward in the technology development route. Its exciting to see so many inventions year after year. Our English Department has come up with a structural approach software which aids in the writing of research articles. A new beef steak was invented and it got patented as 'Vegas Strip Steak'. Probiotics for animal feeds helps our university to earn a decent royalty. Our people are good with their work in veterinary sciences. The university earns about $ 2.7 million every year through Technology Transfer Office. This is after sharing the pie with the inventor. I am happy to say that our university generates about 3 start ups each year based on home made technology," declared Jai Hari.
A lot of money is spent on research in the USA and the Government seems to be quite supportive in every which way. This kind of helps research education, research and it eventually helps the average citizen. Jai Hari further elucidated by stating that a number of students doing their higher education are involved with the inventions of their teachers. "Once a market opportunity becomes apparent, the technology reaches the public through the start up route. A new entity is created and funds are normally raised to commercialise the product. Both, the university and the inventors will have a stake in the venture. Roll 2 Roll Technologies is one of the companies that is providing technology to guide the businesses in this trajectory. This help the users to enhance perfection and quality. One Indian student Aravind Seshadri is involved in this venture," shared Jai Hari.
The Aris web sponsor by this company R2R is highly accurate and can also be adaptive. The patented fibre optic sensing principle enables the plug and play sensor technology. The sensor technology adjusts automatically to the physical characteristics of the material and provides an accurate position measurement. Jai Hari continued his conversation by bringing in some more points, "In India and particularly in Coimbatore we should take steps to develop technology related businesses with IPR protection at the university or at the college level. If Indians are able to do it abroad, its possible to do so in India itself. We discover a lot of things in our space but are unaware that it can be a fabulous idea that can enrich the inventor, stakeholders and the society at large. We should make use of the IPR regime and take things forward. Thousands of inventions and patents are brought out through the universities in the USA. I am a member of the Association of University Technology Managers (autm.net). In the USA, the IPR regime is really helpful for if someone copies a registered product a 'cease and desist' action might be taken to curtail the infringement. Coimbatore is known for its creativity, technology, education and entrepreneurship. Therefore such activities will do a lot of good here."
Jai Hari was glad to share some links for reference - https://www.autm.net/autm.info/about-tech-transfer/about-technology-transfer/public-benefit/autm-40thanniversay/http://www.betterworldproject.org/
Its reliably learnt that some universities in the USA file about 300 inventions each year. Its high time that we come up with such initiatives. The new initiatives of the current Central Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi seem to be in this direction and initiatives like http://www.mentoronroad.com by enterprising people like Jagat Shah could be used for such purposes. We should encash the Start Up India, Make In India and Digital India initiatives just as how they do with the initiatives available at countries like the USA. Coimbatore is sure to take it up and gain through research at the academic level. Inventions and entrepreneurship have always gone hand in hand in this region and now a systematic method will enable the entrepreneurs to take a giant leap.