As the Dean of Alumni and Corporate Relations at IIT Madras, what motivated you to explore the intersection of technology and sports?
IIT Madras is well known for having been the backbone for the country on several national technological initiatives from 5G in the most recent times to engineering railway track transition in the 1960s. As we continue to lay emphasis on our athletes and their performance on the world stage, it became increasingly clear that this field needs an infusion of high-end technology as much as our communications infrastructure. We wanted to bring the rigour of IIT Madras to revolutionise the field of sports as well. We wanted to use the core strengths of IIT Madras - high quality research and development as well as teaching - to change the face of sports tech in the country.
How do you envision sports technology driving the future of athletics in India, particularly in terms of performance improvement and athlete training?
Technology continues to play a crucial role in helping our athletes perform on the global stage. From providing them the necessary backend training to providing a psychological edge, athletes today, in every sport, globally rely heavily on technology. If we could create and proliferate performance technology to the grassroots, India as a country would benefit by letting a thousand flowers bloom. A large base of sports-embracing citizenry is the foundation on which any country바카라s athletic prowess rests. India needs to engineer this change through a deliberate process of allowing students to take to paths that were hitherto unexplored or underexplored. Introducing technology that 바카라gamifies sports바카라 and allows young men and women in schools to enjoy playing is a first step to making that transition.
Why did you think it was essential to launch a Sports Tech Startup Conclave? What kind of impact do you expect it to create in the industry?
The Sports Tech industry is highly fragmented. Conversations between the private industry supports sports in India, the governmental agencies as well as the startup ecosystem is sparse at best. A stated objective of the Conclave was to bring these stakeholders together and enable conversations. We also had several startups who introduced to partners who could invest and help them scale and reach a larger customer base. These are crucial conversations for enabling a fledgling industry in the country. The long term impact that the Conclave and its successor events could have would be to create platforms for such conversations to continue and flourish.
With your experience in both academia and technology, how do you see AI and machine learning shaping the future of athlete performance analysis?
AI and Data Science broadly will play a crucial enabling role on athlete performance. AI can quickly point to opportunities for an athlete to focus on and improve. Similarly, it could also point to tactical strategies that a player can adopt both during training and competition to help deliver their best. In all cases, a precursor to derive this benefit would be the proliferation and storage of structured data. The future athlete would be able to rely on high-quality data to help improve their performance, prevent injury, seek better and focused nutritional help as well as to compete with confidence knowing that the best technology is available to them as it is to anyone else.
What role can Indian universities like IIT Madras play in fostering a sports-tech ecosystem that supports young startups and drives innovation?
Universities are the hotbeds of learning and research. They are fountainheads of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. What these centres of learning have done to creating startups in other domains can also be replicated in sports tech and wellness. What is needed for this growth is a seed of conversations where students and faculty can become aware of the problems in sports and athlete performance as well as to become aware of the constraints under which solutions to such problems need to be evolved. Once this knowledge is digested, I am confident one can expect the same benefits in the field of sports tech as in other domains such as space access or transportation.
How can advanced sports technology contribute to better performance by Indian athletes and potentially improve the country바카라s medal tally in the 2036 Olympics?
Proliferation of sports technology to the grassroots should enable a large number of young men and women to take to sports at an early age. This is a crucial first step for any country to do well on the global stage. Availability of technology at the grassroots would both invite and encourage a large section of young sections to take to sports. This would automatically result in increased competition at the local levels, trickling up champions to the national level who are ready to compete on the global stage. A second and equally important reason to have advanced sports technology available at the grassroots is to help prevent young athletes from getting injured. Or if they get injured, technology can enable a faster and a more complete recovery. This is extremely important for our country because we are just learning how to compete on the global stage and need to know when to stop training. AI and related technologies can play a crucial role in such decisions.
Considering India바카라s ambition to become a sporting superpower, what are some key technological areas you believe need more focus to drive progress in fitness, injury prevention, and recovery?
As I mentioned before, injury prevention and recovery is greatly enabled by medical science and technology. India needs to develop its own atmanirbhar low cost variants in this space and proliferate to the grassroots level. As a very simple example, can every district-level sports establishment have a world-class ice bath for our athletes to recover after training? Making such simple tech available enables a culture of managing one바카라s body and performance scientifically, like any world-class athlete. When a grassroots athlete walks and recovers like a world-class athlete, he would see a seamless transition without added stress. An extension of the above thought is the fact that 바카라fitness thinking바카라 should permeate the country바카라s people. We must develop a culture of eating healthy and nutritious food and exercising regularly to remain fit. Technology can play an enabling role in this process too, by informing the people of the right set of exercises for their growth.
In your opinion, how important is cross-industry collaboration between tech innovators and sports organizations for the future of sports in India?
Sports technology in many instances, is mostly mature technology in one space being re-invented or repurposed for sports. For example, in-sole sensors or athletic performance measurement systems are all technologies that have been matured in other domains. Therefore, conversations between these unlike minds are extremely important. We need to have an abundance of platforms for sports organizations and federations to converse with the tech industry. These conversations are not easy since the language is not often understood by parties on either side. It is therefore important to first grow an army of sports-lovers (coaches and athletes) who are early embracers of technology and can also serve as translators for these difficult conversations.
With growing research in biomechanics and material sciences, how do you think technological innovations in sports equipment and gear can enhance athlete performance and reduce injuries?
Biomechanics and sports technology aids in allowing athletes to know the limits of their bodies, to reduce injuries as well as to aid in quicker recovery. Personalized biomechanical models of an athlete are possible today similar to digital twins of other engineered systems. Such digital twins can aid elite athletes enhance performance by knowing specific areas of improvement.
As someone deeply involved in technology and its applications, what would be your advice to young entrepreneurs looking to enter the sports technology space?
Firstly, be patient because this is not a domain that is mature in India. Secondly, it may be difficult to find domain-trained workforce. Thirdly, barring a few domains in sports tech such as fan engagement technologies, sports tech is not easily monetizable. Reaching break-even state is not going to be easy. But when one gets there, it is greatly rewarding as the impact is tangible to the whole country. Fourth, the founders should be patient and understand the athletes needs deeply and even at a personal level. Sometimes the reasons due to which an athlete may not be embracing a tech solution may look illogical, but it is important for the founders to be patient and understand the athlete by putting themselves in his or her shoes. Lastly, believe in your idea, be passionate and exude the passion. Assemble a group of well-wisher mentors who can advise you on your journey and help you make the right decisions along the way.
How can they bridge the gap between innovation and real-world athletic needs?
This can only be achieved if the innovators are grounded in such needs. It is important to consciously listen to athletes and heed to their needs. It is crucial to understand the constraints and limits where such technology or even its adoption could be stunted. Finally, it is important that innovators focus sharply on the customer (in this case, the athlete or his or her coach), as any good business should. This will automatically ensure that the athlete will gain confidence in the products and services that you are offering.
As a key contributor to the establishment of CESSA, what are your goals for the centre in terms of advancing sports science research and its applications for Indian athletes.
We wish to see CESSA as a catalyst in enabling an India that is a sports superpower. We wish to see the technologies that we develop, the startups we create and mentor, and the science we discover as being grounded in the needs of our athletes and our country. We wish to bring sports education front and centre into people바카라s lexicon and make high-quality sports-related education accessible and interesting. We believe that by achieving these objectives, we will have started a movement towards a fit India, a sporting India and a more wellness-aware nation.
How do you see CESSA바카라s work in sports analytics impacting coaching strategies and athlete performance optimization in the years leading up to the 2036 Olympics?
The use of sports analytics cuts across multiple disciplines and sports. We have begun working in several sports including boxing, athletics, swimming, archery and cricket to name a few. If we want India to become a sporting power to reckon with by 2036, we need to train and graduate a large army of sports analysts to help athletes at the junior and grassroots level. This is crucial not only to help our young men and women be smart with their training but also for them to prevent injuries to their bodies and recover quickly after training. We wish to be the organization that will train this army of data scientists with domain knowledge in sports and comfort in dealing with athlete data.
