Innovation & prototyping
Build. Test. Learn. Improve.
Innovation infrastructure is being established at the Centre. This page publishes what each facility is for, who may use it and what stage it has reached — and marks anything not yet commissioned as planned.
Prototype & MVP support
Four moves, repeated
Prototyping support at ACIC-PUSH is a discipline, not a room. The room helps.
- 01
Proof of concept
Establish that the core mechanism works at all, and find the risk that matters most.
- 02
Prototype
Build the cheapest version that can be tested honestly by someone other than you.
- 03
Test
Put it into field conditions and record what happens, including the failures.
- 04
Improve
Change one thing at a time, and keep the version history.
Facilities
What is being established, and where each one stands
The handover specification is explicit: only commissioned facilities may be shown as available. Everything below is currently marked planned.
- Planned / Upcoming
Advanced Tinkering / Innovation Space
Hands-on experimentation, making and iteration — the room where an idea first becomes a physical thing.
- Eligible users
- Students, scholars, faculty, alumni and community innovators, subject to induction
- Equipment & resources
- Equipment list to be published on commissioning
Access procedure, induction and safety requirements will be published with the facility.
- Planned / Upcoming
Prototype Development Facility
Development of proof-of-concept builds, prototypes and minimum viable products with technical mentoring.
- Eligible users
- Pre-incubation and incubation participants; approved project teams
- Equipment & resources
- Equipment list to be published on commissioning
- Planned / Upcoming
Maker / Fabrication Facility
Fabrication, assembly and finishing work supporting prototype iteration.
- Eligible users
- Approved innovators and project teams, subject to safety clearance
- Equipment & resources
- Availability and equipment subject to confirmation
Provided where available, and where partner facilities are not better suited.
- Planned / Upcoming
Computing & Digital Innovation Facility
Software, data and digital product development, including work on emerging-technology applications.
- Eligible users
- Registered innovators, student teams and incubatees
- Equipment & resources
- Specification to be published on commissioning
- Planned / Upcoming
Co-working / Incubation Space
Day-to-day working space for incubated teams and visiting innovators.
- Eligible users
- Incubated ventures and approved pre-incubation teams
- Equipment & resources
- Seat allocation and terms to be published
- Planned / Upcoming
Meeting & Mentoring Rooms
Mentor sessions, review meetings, expert clinics and partner discussions.
- Eligible users
- Programme participants, mentors and partners
- Equipment & resources
- Capacity and booking terms to be published
- Planned / Upcoming
Training / Workshop & Community Engagement Space
Capacity-building sessions, design thinking workshops and community engagement activities.
- Eligible users
- Programme participants, community groups and partner institutions
- Equipment & resources
- Capacity and configuration to be published
- Planned / Upcoming
Digital Connectivity
Connectivity supporting remote mentoring, online sessions and digital collaboration.
- Eligible users
- All facility users
- Equipment & resources
- Provision to be confirmed
- Planned / Upcoming
Partner Laboratories & Testing Facilities
Access to specialist university and partner laboratories for testing, characterisation and validation.
- Eligible users
- Approved projects, subject to the host laboratory’s own rules
- Equipment & resources
- Partner laboratory list to be published once access arrangements are formalised
Access is governed by the host institution’s policies in every case.
- Planned / Upcoming
Equipment & Resource Access
Shared access to instruments and resources that an individual innovator could not otherwise reach.
- Eligible users
- Approved innovators and ventures
- Equipment & resources
- Resource register to be published
Access, safety and booking
What every facility page will state
A shared standard, so a user knows before travelling whether they can work and what is expected of them.
- Description and purpose
- Eligible users
- Equipment and resources
- Availability
- Access procedure
- Safety requirements
- Booking route
Book a facility
Phase 2Online booking — with induction records, safety clearance and slot management — is part of Digital ACIC Phase 2. It cannot open before the facilities themselves are commissioned.
In the meantime, tell the Centre what you need to build and the programme team will advise on the route, including access to partner laboratories.
Testing and pilots
Field testing is arranged with community and institutional partners so that a prototype meets real conditions, not laboratory ones. Pilot arrangements are agreed case by case.
Partner laboratories
Capability the Centre does not need to duplicate
Pondicherry University and partner institutions hold specialist equipment. Where a project needs it, the Centre’s job is to arrange access — under the host laboratory’s own rules — rather than to buy a second one.
IP and technology transfer
Research and prototypes can produce intellectual property. The Centre supports innovators to recognise it early, protect it appropriately and, where a route exists, transfer or licence it.
- IP awareness before disclosure, not after
- Technology assessment and readiness review
- Support for filings through the appropriate institutional route
- Commercialisation and licensing pathways
Ownership and revenue sharing are governed by the Centre’s IPR Policy, which will be published under Governance before programme agreements are executed.
Nothing here is a commitment to a specific asset
Equipment lists, capacities and commissioning dates will be published for each facility as it becomes operational. This page will be updated by the Operations Team as facilities change status.