The University of Kashmir (KU) Sunday announced that its faculty Dr Javaid Ahmad Sheikh from the Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Technology, has been selected as ‘Regional Mentor of Change (RMoC)’ for the year 2024-2025 by the NITI Ayog, GoI, for Jammu and Kashmir.
The Mentor India programme is a national movement being led by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Ayog, wherein skilled professionals provide pro-bono mentoring to young school student innovators, with a strong sentiment towards nation building. AIM calls the skilled professionals ‘Mentors of Change’.
The mentors help students practice future skills such as design thinking, human centric design approach, computational thinking, physical computing etc through school maker spaces called Atal Tinkering Labs and encourage students to experiment, innovate, and bring their 21st century skills to practice, an official statement issued here read.
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is India’s flagship initiative to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship with over 5000 ‘Mentors of Change’ helping realise the potential of the stakeholders under NITI Aayog’s guidance.
“The role of RMoC is to be closely working with AIM team to guide and assist the Jammu and Kashmir ATAL tinkering labs community, mentoring the mentors, activating the mentors, solving their operational problems, providing innovation landscape among the students besides innovate events,” a spokesperson said.
Dr Javaid termed it an honour to be part of the 81 RMoC members selected for supporting AIM’s mission of encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.
In her congratulatory message, KU Vice Chancellor, Prof Nilofer Khan termed it a remarkable feat and a special moment for the varsity.
“The whole university community is delighted as it is successfully making a mark at both national and international arena and is resolute towards attaining excellence across domains,” she said.
KU Registrar, Prof Naseer Iqbal, also congratulated Dr Javaid for the assignment at the national level and considered it “a recognition and an opportunity to contribute towards nation building, by mentoring young innovators and empowering them accordingly”.
Head, Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Technology, Prof. Tariq Banday, lauded Dr Javaid's dedication and expertise, and emphasised the positive impact his mentorship will have on the innovation ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir, the statement read.