Students’ Mechanism Design Contest (SMDC)

Update (7th October): Results of Stage 2 are notified.

Update (1st September): Date of Stage 2 submission extended to 14th September.

Update (14th August):Template of Stage 2 is posted.

Update (7th June):The submission of initial proposals closed on 6th June 2025. Thank you to everyone who submitted their entries. An acknowledgment email has been sent for each submission received.

Objective

The Association for Machines and Mechanisms (AMM) aims to foster innovation among young students by integrating a Mechanism Design Contest into the iNaCoMM conference series since 2009. This contest encourages students to apply their theoretical knowledge in Machines and Mechanisms to develop practical solutions for real-world challenges.Awards & Recognition

The Association for Machines and Mechanisms (AMM) has approved the following prizes for the Student Mechanism Design Contest – iNaCoMM 2025:

🏆 First Prize: ₹10,000
🥈 Second Prize: ₹6,000
🥉 Third Prize: ₹4,000

The Evaluation Committee, in consultation with AMM, reserves the right to limit the number of prizes if the entries do not meet the required quality standards. If necessary, the committee may recommend awarding only the first prize or adjusting the number of awarded prizes accordingly.

📜 All finalists will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Exciting Opportunity for Winners!

In addition to the cash prizes, contest winners of iNaCoMM 2025 will be recommended for a student project under the MSME initiative to foster innovation. As part of this initiative, selected student projects can receive funding up to ₹2.5 lakh, providing an opportunity to further develop and implement their ideas.

Eligibility

Participation is open to individuals or groups (up to three members) who are full-time students, research scholars, or project staff at recognized institutes.

How to Participate?

Participants must submit proposals for the design, construction, and operation of innovative mechanisms that solve challenging design problems. These problems can be from various fields, including agriculture, rural technology, automation, biomedical applications, and multi-physics-based systems. Some examples include:

• Human effort-reducing fruit/vegetable peeling or cutting mechanisms

• Improved spectacles design

• Advanced lock and key mechanism 

• Mechanical logic gates 

• Make-shift bridge design for emergency and disaster response

• Smart toy designs 

• Energy storage mechanisms integrating hybrid kinetic and magnetic systems

• Bio-inspired/Bio-mimicking mechanisms

• Multi-physics integrated mechanisms for sensors and actuators

• Foldable mechanisms for space-efficient furniture and disaster relief shelters

• Hospital bed with dynamic support to prevent bedsores

• Negative pressure wound-care mechanism with automated healing monitoring

• Automated operation of traditional games (e.g., table tennis return system)

Guidelines & Constraints

• The mechanism can be manually powered or operated using a small motor or engine.

• Operational safety is paramount. Unsafe designs will be disqualified.

• The mechanism should be lightweight, compact, and easy to transport for presentation.

• AI-driven robots are not allowed, but remote-controlled mechanisms are permitted.

• Each prototype must be successfully demonstrated in front of judges, with a maximum of three attempts allowed.

Evaluation Procedure & Deadlines

The contest consists of three evaluation stages:

Stage 1: Initial Proposal Submission

• Participants must submit a 2-page proposal detailing the problem statement, existing solutions, proposed solution, superiority of the proposed solution, and impact of the solution by 15th May 6th June 2025. (Template for proposal )

• The proposal should be emailed with the subject ‘SMDC |  to inacomm2025@mae.iith.ac.in

• Decision notifications will be sent by 20th June 2025.

Submissions selected to Stage 2:

No.Team MembersInstitute
1Anusree B
Dhruva Korla
Deopuje Sanskar
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
2Malavika A. Bipin
Sri Sowndariya
T. N. Rishi Nair
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
3Mallika Sahu
Gurleen Kaur Saluja
Anusree Biju
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
5Aishwarya Jaiswal
Adicherla Vaishiena
Ratanjyoti Jaiswal
PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
6Shreyas DeveshVellore Institute of Technology, Vellore
7Anmol Kumar
Ajay Raj Gurjar
Siddhant Chauhan
PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
8Ravi Vishwakarma
Sujal Laxman Nagekar
1. IIT Goa 2. Goa College of Engineering
9Prayag RathBITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
10Shaurya SinghIIT Kanpur
11Yash Raju GohokarNIT Trichy
12Raj Jain
Mehul Agarwal
Suryansh Raj Aryan
PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
14Varshith JNIT Karnataka, Surathkal
16Chetan Anand Jhariya
Adireddi Manikanta Taraka Raghuram
Abhayananda VC
PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
17Dharanidharan G
Gayasree E
Suriya Pragash N
Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai
18Sankalp GuptaNIT Raipur
20Pilankar Anurag Prakash
Mohamed Irshaath
1. SVNIT Surat 2. NIT Trichy
21Aditya SaranPDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
22Ashish Raj
Yash Kumar
NIT Durgapur
23Sankar B
Joe Thomas
IISc Bangalore
24Naveen KumarAmrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
25Tanishq Chandel
Divy Agrawal
Dhruv Gupta
LNMIIT Jaipur
26Nandhith Karthikeyan
Pasupuleti Satwik
Dinesh Challagolla
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
28Anbazhagan S
Akash G
Deepakraj G
Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai
29Nitye Gupta
Lakshya Bhatnagar
IIT Delhi
30Vineet Ashok GoldeNIT Trichy
31Goraksh BendaleIIT Gandhinagar
33Joel J Nellikunnel
A. Padmaprabhan
IIT Hyderabad
34Kumar Divyanshu Shukla
Sarthak Sharma
Priyanshu Sharma
MANIT, Bhopal
35Vikaash BB
Eric Victor
Sanchay Srijan S
NIT Calicut
36Aakash OjhaBITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
37Rishabh Dhar Dwivedi
Subhan Ahmed
Shri GS Institute of Technology and Science, Indore
40MayukhNot given
Stage 2: Detailed Design Submission

• Selected teams must submit a detailed report, including design progress, by 1st 14th September 2025.

• The submission should include your current progress and any supporting visuals (photos, CAD renders, diagrams). (Template for submission ). Submit as a PDF along with your prototype video by 1st September 2025  to inacomm2025@mae.iith.ac.in. Please use the subject line ‘SMDC | | Detailed Design Submission’.

• Review decisions will be communicated by 30th September 2025.

Submissions selected to Stage 3:

No.Team MembersInstitute
2Malavika A. Bipin
Sri Sowndariya
T. N. Rishi Nair
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
3Mallika Sahu
Gurleen Kaur Saluja
Anusree Biju
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
5Aishwarya Jaiswal
Adicherla Vaishiena
Ratanjyoti Jaiswal
PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
8Ravi Vishwakarma
Sujal Laxman Nagekar
1. IIT Goa 2. Goa College of Engineering
9Prayag RathBITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
10Shaurya SinghIIT Kanpur
11Yash Raju GohokarNIT Trichy
16Chetan Anand Jhariya
Adireddi Manikanta Taraka Raghuram
Abhayananda VC
PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
17Dharanidharan G
Gayasree E
Suriya Pragash N
Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai
20Pilankar Anurag Prakash
Mohamed Irshaath
1. SVNIT Surat 2. NIT Trichy
21Aditya SaranPDPM IIITDM Jabalpur
24Naveen KumarAmrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
25Tanishq Chandel
Divy Agrawal
Dhruv Gupta
LNMIIT Jaipur
29Nitye Gupta
Lakshya Bhatnagar
IIT Delhi
33Joel J Nellikunnel
A. Padmaprabhan
IIT Hyderabad
34Kumar Divyanshu Shukla
Sarthak Sharma
Priyanshu Sharma
MANIT, Bhopal
35Vikaash BB
Eric Victor
Sanchay Srijan S
NIT Calicut
37Rishabh Dhar Dwivedi
Subhan Ahmed
Shri GS Institute of Technology and Science, Indore
Stage 3: Prototype Development & Final Demonstration

• Teams progressing to this stage must submit a 5-minute explainer video (.avi/.mp4) of the design by 15th October 2025.

• Successful participants will be invited to present their prototypes at iNaCoMM 2025.

• Participants attending the final round will receive TA/DA support.

Judging Criteria

• Innovation and originality

• Complexity of the problem addressed

• Effectiveness of the proposed solution

• Functionality and real-world applicability

• Impact and potential scalability

Important Dates

• Submission of Initial Proposal: 15th May 6th June 2025 (closed)

• Decision on Initial Proposal: 20th June 2025

• Submission of Detailed Design: 1st September 2025

• Decision on Design Submission: 30th September 2025

• Prototype Progress Report Submission: 15th October 2025

• Final Demonstration: Between 7th-10th December 2025

Contact for Queries

For any queries related to the contest, please contact inacomm2025@mae.iith.ac.in