Sudhir Reddy is managing director of the Hyderabad-based Jay Robotix Pvt. Ltd, a company engaged in manufacturing customised robots for the defence services and Indian industry.

Newspeg. Jay Robotix is all set to launch Robox, an experiential STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning package mapped with the curriculums of major exam boards, to enable learning of science and maths through robotics. Although Robox is its latest integrated offering for class VI-XII school students, over 2,500 students in 90 schools in Andhra Pradesh and 11,000 students in engineering colleges across the state have subscribed to, and are enriching their STEM subjects education by following Jay Robotix compact disc learning modules.

Moreover, the company has established its Robolabs in two Hyderabad-based engineering colleges and one in Indore. And in June this year, Jay Robotix will roll out version 2.0 of ROBOKID-2014, a national competition based on the theme of environmental awareness for class VI-X school children. Teams from over 250 schools across the country are expected to participate in the event.

History. An alumnus of SASTRA University, Tamil Nadu, with a Masters in mechatronics from Florida University, Reddy closely studied the robotics-driven productivity revolution while studying in the US. Therefore on his return to India in March 2010, he promoted Jay Robotix to manufacture task-specific industrial robots, before venturing into education in 2011.

Direct talk. “On my return from the US, I felt that in school and higher education, there is need for a process or pedagogy which facilitates conceptual understanding of textbook theory through engaging experiential learning. Our objective of venturing into education is to bridge this gap between theory and practice and facilitate a thorough understanding of STEM concepts through robotics education,” says Sudhir Reddy.

Future plans. Having established an excellent reputation in Indian industry and academia within less than four years, Jay Robotix is looking for investor-partners to diversify and roll out its education packages. “Indian children have an inherited science and maths learning tradition. Unfortunately, this has been suppressed by boring, textbooks-based learning. By providing enjoyable experiential learning opportunities to supplement classroom learning through robotics, this tradition can be revived. That’s our objective,” says Sudhir Reddy. 

Aruna Ravikumar (Hyderabad)