The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has said it will pitch for a smart hackathon for Bengal next year on the lines of the Smart India Hackathon 2017 to make students of state universities and institutes think innovatively.

Director of SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) of AICTE, Manpreet Singh Manna said there has already been successful Smart Hackathons in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Bengal being a knowledge hub should take the initiative of organising a Smart Hackathon to reach out to a greater number of students, he said.

"The AICTE is ready to collaborate and offer all assistance and support," he told PTI on the sidelines of a programme at Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In the Smart India Hackathon 2017 the participating teams competed from 33 locations across the country to offer digital yet sustainable innovative solutions to solve real time challenges faced by the nation.

"We need a platform called Hackathon for devising innovative solutions to different problems. We should not be stuck in old curriculum and preparing class notes only. We need our electrical engineers to do the job of a mechanic as well as that of an engineer. If that connect is missing, how can our students have holistic knowledge of their subject," he said.

"Our future engineers know the problems and their solutions but they do not know how to implement," Manna said adding teachers have to be more proactive and evolve themselves.

In his address at the programme 'Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies - A Transformational Journey', Manna called for organising workshops, screening films and involving both state universities and private institutes in a bigger way to build awareness about the need to shift from conventional to non-conventional energy use.

Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technolgy (IIEST) Director Prof Ajoy Ray said, there should be greater collaboration between industry and institutions.

"I think IIEST, Jadavpur University, Indian Statistical Institute and similar institutions of the state should join hands and collaborate to facilitate a robust industry-academic institutions interface. That will help West Bengal in the long run," he said.

BCCI President Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said the Chambers has always offered a platform to discuss global energy situation.