mAIscada

mAIscada started during the Sustainability Venture Creation Course provided by the Sustainability Mafia in collaboration with PIEDS at BITS Pilani. It was a course I took in the second semester of my second year, where we were encouraged to build something around sustainability. The course brought together students from all three BITS Pilani campuses, along with participants from a few other universities, to work on climate-focused startup ideas.

At the end of the course, around five startups were selected from more than 50 teams to pitch at Suscrunch, a community-driven sustainability and climate conference that brings together founders, investors, institutions, and people working on climate innovation. mAIscada was one of the selected startups, and getting to pitch there was one of the highlights of the entire journey.

The idea behind mAIscada came from a simple observation. Manufacturing industries waste a significant amount of energy because there are many inefficiencies that often go unnoticed. My vision was to build an AI intelligence layer on top of existing SCADA systems, paired with strong industrial control systems, to help factories understand how their equipment was performing, identify inefficiencies, and make better decisions to become more energy efficient.

Pitching at Suscrunch also made us secure three paid pilot programs, including one with Biocon. More than anything, it gave me confidence that the problem was real and that people in the industry were willing to explore new solutions.

mAIscada is still something I'm exploring, it's the idea that introduced me to manufacturing, industrial automation, and SCADA systems. It can improve the way physical industries operate and create real-world impact.