IIT Delhi awards Neilom Prize to recent graduates for their work in assistive technology


The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi today awarded the Neilom Prize for the year 2020-21 to recent graduates for contributing to the space of assistive technology to empower people with disabilities. The award was jointly presented to Richa Gupta and Girish Yadav.

The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, is given every year to the best outgoing student(s) of IIT Delhi for their contribution to the area of assistive technology.

Richa Gupta, an assistant professor in human-centred design at IIIT-Delhi, completed her PhD from Khosla School of Information Technology, IIT Delhi after obtaining her BTech in Mechanical Engineering from IIITDM, Jabalpur and Master of Design (M. Des.) from IIT Bombay.

She also worked as a project scientist in the assistance laboratory at IIT Delhi for one year contributing to the industrial design of various assistive devices in the space of accessible education and mobility.

Her doctoral research at IIT Delhi sheds light on the idea of novel design strategies that can aid the retention of tactually acquired graphical information. Her work involved extensive experiments working closely with organisations that excel in accessibility initiatives and inclusion of blind and visually impaired in India (National Association for the Blind) and the USA (Indiana School for the Blind & Visually Impaired).

Girish Yadav did his BTech in Production and Industrial Engineering from IIT Delhi and recently completed his MDes degree from IIT Delhi. Girish is a co-founder of Flexmo, an assistive technology product design and manufacturing company focusing on solutions for the elderly and people with locomotor disabilities.

He was involved in the successful design, development and deployment of multiple assistive technology devices, which include Flexmo Crutches, Transito Sit-Stand Device and elderly canes and walkers.



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