Pune: Kalpakghar STEM Centre Opens at Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park, Aims to Boost Innovation

Pimpri Chinchwad, 22nd August 2024: In a significant step towards fostering creativity and innovation, Kalpakghar – Community STEM-Tinkering Centre was inaugurated yesterday (August 21, 2024) at Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park, Pune. Kalpakghar is a collaborative STEM-tinkering project between IISER Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park and is funded by Tata Technologies Ltd. under its Corporate Social Responsibilities initiative.

Housed within the Science Park, Kalpakghar has hands-on models and activities based on STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Besides schools and colleges of the PCMC area, Kalpakghar is also open to all visitors of the Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park.

The inauguration ceremony was graced by Shekhar Singh, Commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and Chairman of Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park, in the presence of Prof. S.S. Bhagwat, Director of IISER Pune; Dr. Arvind Natu, Board Member of Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park; Pravin Tupe, Founder Director of Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park; Sujit Dixit, Head of CSR & Internal Audit at Tata Technologies Ltd; and Siddharth Yawalkar, Assistant Manager – CSR, Tata Technologies Ltd.

The inauguration was marked by a demonstration of hands-on STEM-tinkering activities at Kalpakghar. During the event, Shekhar Singh emphasized that such initiatives can add value to the teaching-learning process. He highlighted how Kalpakghar could serve as a central hub for promoting STEM education across schools in Pimpri Chinchwad, ITI colleges, and engineering colleges, thus promoting the spirit of independent thinking and active learning amongst students, teachers and science enthusiasts. He suggested conducting hackathons in the near future.

The centre aims to conduct STEM-tinkering workshops for PCMC school teachers and students, aligning with the National Education Policy 2020. In addition, Kalpakghar will conduct daily hands-on demonstration sessions for Science Park visitors and facilitate connections to IISER Pune’s various science outreach activities.

The inaugural event of Kalpakghar also saw the presence of faculties and staff members from IISER Pune including Prof. M.S. Santhanam, Dean for International Relations & Outreach and Registrar (In-charge); Prof. Kundan Sengupta, Associate Dean for International Relations and Outreach; and Dr. Aparna Deshpande, Project Principal Investigator for Kalpakghar and Faculty In-charge of the Science Activity Centre at IISER Pune; and N.T. Kasar, Chief Executive Officer of Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park.

The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune is an autonomous teaching and research institute set up in 2006 by the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, with the primary goal of integrating high-quality research with undergraduate teaching. IISER Pune offers academic programmes at the undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD levels