IIT Madras Students’ ‘Autonomous Surface Boat’ Finishes In Top Three Of Global Competition

Indian Institute of Technology Madras or IIT Madras’s student Team Aritra has secured third place globally and also won the Sustainability Award in Njord Challenge 2023, a global competition hosted recently by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. They also won a cash prize of 10,000 NOK (Norwegian Krone).

Njord – Autonomous Ship Challenge is a unique, international student competition in which participants are tasked with designing and building an autonomous ship. Teams are invited to bring their vessels to Trondheim’s fjord where they compete in a series of challenges and events.

The competition is held for the students with the goal to inspire innovation and smart autonomy solutions for marine domain. The competition also offers students with an opportunity for professional development and networking. The competition saw participation from seven top international teams including one from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.

Team Aritra comprises of four students from the Department of Ocean Engineering”s Marine Autonomous Vessels (MAV) Laboratory – Mohammed Ibrahim M, Amarnath Singh, Akash Vijayakumar and Rakshin Ramesh.

They were mentored by IIT Madras faculty Dr Abhilash Sharma Somayajula and Prof MA Atmanand. The team was also supported by Prabhakaran Jay and Vallabh Deogaonkar from the MAV Laboratory.

“There exists an opportunity for Indian industry and startups to take this up on a commercial basis under the ‘Make in India’ program of the Government of India,” said Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras while congratulating the students. He also encouraged students of Team Aritra to think of forming a startup themselves.