BENGALURU : With an intent to provide a well-equipped workspace to electronics engineering students, a 23-year-old graduate is running a first-of-its-kind electronics lab in the city.Sudarshan Hebbar, a BE graduate in Electronics and Communication, came up with an idea of ‘Excentre labs’, where students can carry out experiments and develop mini, major and innovative projects.
Started in 2017, this startup lab provides all the basic passive and active electronic components, equipment like bench power supplies, function generators, oscilloscopes, measuring instruments, soldering station, and development kits like Arduino, MSP430, various sensors, actuators and microcontrollers for project development.
“During my engineering days, I always thought there is a need for a lab that is not limited to one particular institution. The laboratories in college are not available for students all the time, especially while working on major projects, students need sophisticated tools, test equipment for design and development. The students need a comfortable working place. This motivated me to start the lab,” says Sudarshan Hebbar, the founder of the Excentre Labs.
This lab focusses on providing practical knowledge to the students through a hands-on approach rather than just providing them with the final prototype of their projects.“The lab helps them implement their ideas to solve real world issues. This approach boosts their confidence and makes them more likely to be working in core electronics companies in the future. Right now in Mysuru, there are no services similar to ExCentre Labs,” he claims.
Sudarshan says his father always supported and encouraged him to do what he wanted to. He says, “My father provided me with the funds to start the lab. I also took loans from some of my friends. So far, around `5 lakh has been invested. However, the major challenge is to promote this venture. I mostly concentrate on social media for it as students now are more connected online.”
The revenue stream of Excentre is mainly based on projects. The lab is used only half a year as students are supposed to develop major projects in their final semester. Rest of the year, the students who are really interested in electronics, hobbyists and those who want to conduct experiments, contribute to the total revenue.
“As of now, I have not made any profit as I am mostly concentrating on reaching more students. But I’m sure the situation will not be the same in the coming days,” he says with great confidence.The major target audience of the lab is engineering and diploma students of electronics streams. However, since the lab provides a great platform for design and development, anyone who is interested in electronics can also benefit from it. Sudarshan “I look forward to expanding this facility to other cities where the number of engineering colleges is high. But before that, I have to build a team with enthusiastic and likeminded personalities,” he adds.