Foxconn Chairman Young Liu to open T-Works today
PNS|Hyderabad
Ahead of the inauguration of prototyping facility T-Works, Minister K T Rama Rao has declared that Hyderabad’s Raidurgam is now home to the world’s largest Innovation Campus spread over 18acres.
According to KTR, T-Works, which will be inaugurated on Thursday by Foxconn chairman Young Liu, is currently spread over 78,000sft and in Phase2 it will extend over 2.5lakh sft. Another IMAGE Tower spread in 1.6mnsft for multimedia, animation, gaming, and entertainment will be readied by December2023.
T-Hub, spread across 5.7lakh sft, is already being used by startups. KTR said that with presence of T-Hub, T-Works, IMAGE tower, Raidugramwas home to the world’s largest Innovation Campus. From designing a complicated rocket to simplest Bongaram (toy), from the sophisticated PCBs to traditional silver filigree or ceramic handicraft, T-Works is envisioned as a platform where an innovator can walk in to transform an idea into a working prototype that is reproducible at scale.
The services are offered to hobbyists, artistes, professionals, hardware startups, MSMEs, corporations, researchers, and even students in return for a fee. T-Works does not mass manufacture but seeks only to create samples. People will be allowed to operate and use the equipment after undergoing safety and machine training. Few industrial grade machines will be operable only by T-Works employees.
The Minister said that the facility will see investments totalling Rs.110 crore, including about Rs.40 crore from the corporate sector. It has already deployed machinery worth about Rs.11.5 crore and over the next six months to one year, it will see the full inflow of Rs.110 crore investment. KTR said, “I have created a baby, I want it to walk on its own as we can’t keep feeding it (pumping in money). T-Hub is on its own generating revenue, T-works idea is to run on its own and make it as inexpensive and economical as possible”.
Principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan said, “It will be a pay-per-hour model and the rent would be nominal. On an average, one would require not more than a month and a half for developing a prototype. One would need to just book a slot for use of machinery. About 50 to 60 individuals can work out of the building at any given point in time”.
Satellite centres of T-Works will be set up in Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Siddipet, and Warangal where IT towers are being built or have been already built. KTR said that the Central government is not supporting Telangana by giving the state a National Institute of Design. “But we will work to evolve a design ecosystem with T-Works”.
Shops and spaces in T-Works currently include Laser cutting &engraving, Testinglab (environmental, vibration, metrology), Electronics lab, 3D Printing, Welding, Metal shop, Wood shop, Garage space, Ceramics studio, Library, and Retail store. Over 300 users from startups to corporate have built at Works and produced over 1,000 parts and prototypes. Some of the notable successes include Skyroot collaboration, Holywaste, VTOL UAV for medical drone delivery, Oxygen Concentrator, and Prototyping for LV Prasad Eye Institute where T-Works has developed medical device consumables as well as surgical guides for LVPEI. T-Works supported a young rural innovator named Srija to convert her idea of biodegradable planters into a mass manufacturable product.
Highlights
Shops and spaces in T-Works currently
Laser cutting &engraving
Testing lab (environmental, vibration, metrology)
Electronics lab
3D Printing
Welding
Metal shop
Wood shop
Garage space
Ceramics studio
Library
Retail store
