ThnigQbator: Where ideas turn into innovations!
Once upon a time..
15-years old Kshitji Pandey, who is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Nirol, is one of the youngest entrepreneurs in India. His incredible journey from being a school student to CEO was made possible by thingQbator at IIT Varanasi.
Having a fascination for computers and technology from a young age, Kshitji would often skip school classes and deepen his knowledge in programming and coding. He soon gained advanced skills in technology however, the opportunities at his local school lab were no match for the student’s mind and ambitions.
A Wish Comes true!
It was at this time when Kshitji heard about the new thingQbator set-up at IIT Varanasi and the possibility for everyone in the local community to access it. This indeed seemed like the perfect place and opportunity for the aspiring techpreneur to take next step in his journey.
At thingQbator, he started to develop a prototype device called Nirol, which measures fuel contamination and can be easily retrofitted into an existing gasoline station fuel pump. The device uses machine learning technology to identify purity level in the liquid. This enables fuel companies to remotely monitor the quality of fuel delivered. At the same time, it provides consumers access to similar information so they can make well-informed decisions.
And he lived happily ever after
Having developed his project over the last one year at thingQbator, starting with just a basic idea on paper, the budding entrepreneur has now established a minimum viable prototype and started Nirol as a company.
For his outstanding work, Kshitji has received several recognitions such as the Cisco ‘Excellence in Innovation’ Award. He was the winner of the IITBHU start-up battle as well as of the thingQbator hackathon. Kshitji also got the opportunity to share his inspiring journey at the TedX Talk.
“It was like a dream lab for me, where everything I needed was available”. “The environment, availability of advanced technology and tools, networking and learning with peers and mentors all together provide everything you need to develop your idea from scratch to finish” Kshitj
