On October 4, 2021, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh felicitated the winners of ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ Contest organised by Defence Research & Development Organisation(DRDO)

Highlights

• Awards were given to 40 winners, including 22 in Individual category and 18 in Start-up category.
• On the occasion, ‘Dare to Dream 3.0’ was also launched to promote innovators & start-ups and provide a platform for the young ignited minds in the country.
• Minister also presented “DRDO Young Scientists awards” for the year 2019. 16 DRDO scientists, aged under 35 years, were awarded for their outstanding contribution in fields of their expertise.

Dare to Dream contest was launched by DRDO across India to promote Indian academicians, individuals and start-ups for developing emerging defence and aerospace technologies or systems. Under the contest, DRDO provides technical and financial support to the winners, in a bid to realise their ideas under “Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme”.

On the occasion, three indigenously developed products or systems by DRDO were handed over to Armed Forces:

1. ARINC818 Video Processing and Switching Module: It has been developed for Indian Air Force. The state-of-the-art module comprises of high bandwidth, channel bonding, low latency and easy networking. It was provided for 5thgeneration aircraft development programmes.
2. Sonar Performance Modelling System: It was developed for the Indian Navy. It is useful for Indian Naval Ships, submarines as well as under water surveillance stations etc.
3. Bund Blasting Device Mk-II: This device has been developed for Indian Army. It will help in reducing the height of Ditch-cum-Bund obstacles for enhancing mobility of mechanised infantry during wartime.