SRMIST students develop inkless printing tech prototype

Kattankulathur: In what is expected to be a huge game changer in the printing industry and related environmental pollution, Aura Labs team of SRM Institute of Science and Technology has developed a prototype of aninkless printing technology machine.

The brains behind the invention are Shilpa Thakur (M.Tech, Robotics, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SRM KTR) and Shylesh Srinivasan (B. Tech, Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SRM)

They plan to float a startup in a few months' time once the prototype is perfected for commercial applications. They have come up with a Plasma Carburization Inkless Printing Technology that can print on paper without using any kind of toxic, consumable and expensive inks or toners. Their Aura Labs team topped the ten teams at the India Innovation Challenge Design Contest held in Bangalore.

The technology is perceived to be very effective in reducing the generation of Plastic and E-waste contributed by huge scale of discarded Printer Ink and Toner Cartridges which also would eliminate the discharge of toxic chemicals contained within them. "We used plasma energy to carbonize the paper surface instead of chemical inks and toners which pose health hazards when discarded," said Srinivasan.

Aura Labs of SRMIST was awarded the Chairman's Award, the First Prize at IICDC conducted by Texas Instruments India, DST India, IIM Bangalore and My Gov India for the Best Innovation and Technological Impact.

The Award was presented by the Chairman of AICTE, Prof. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe to Shilpa Thakur (M.Tech, Robotics, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SRM KTR) and Shylesh Srinivasan (B.Tech, Dept. Of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SRM KTR) who had developed the Inkless Printing Technology. They were selected from 26000 Startup applications from all over the country.

A total of 1750 colleges participated in the event and 26,000 students took part. Ten thousand projects were submitted out of which 30 were shortlisted. SRMIST Aura Labs team emerged the winner bagging the Chairman's Award.