IIIT-H's mission is to achieve excellence in research and introduce relevant programs that maximize the impact on industry & society. The environment in the institute fosters research focused on development and practical application of science & technology. The core philosophy is to transform visionary ideas into sustainable ventures to benefit humanity.

As information technology  permeates various facets of life , it is essential to build a culture that fosters organic creativity & innovation, and the best place for trying out new ideas without the fear of failure are entrepreneurship development cells & incubation centers set up in academic institutions.

At the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE), we help students, alumni and colleagues realize opportunities, assist in accessing initial seed funds or loans, technology transfers from the research centers amongst other things. Supported by industry members and fellow entrepreneurs, the goal is to form a mentor network to actively advise and assist startup.

The Center is run by the following people:

1. Kavita Vemuri

Senior Research Scientist at IIITH & Head of the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Researcher in Cognitive neuroscience, 13 years of experience in research, engineering, new product/technology development.

Previously, Head of the Technology Development Center at CII/ Chennai. MSME technology assistance center. Has worked in 3M’s Corporate Research Labs, Austin Texas in the Optical Devices program.
Two US patents(US 6,990,274, US 6,788,851) filed & issued – devices for dispersion compensation in fiber communication networks. 1 filed from University of Hyderabad in 2009, in Optical fiber-based vector-vortex beams for micro- and nano-manipulation applications

Domain knowledge: social enterprise, business innovation, telecom (Fiber optical Networks), control systems, Automobile, Agri/food, textile, electrical/electronics, cognitive neuroscience, management

MSc MPhil Physics(University of Hyderabad), Graduate student in Physics at SUNY, Albany, MS ECE University of Massachusetts, Executive management in negotiations, mergers & acquisitions.

2. Nirmala Govindan

Research Scientist at  Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, IIIT. 13 years of experiene in software engineering.

Previously, worked for Motorola in wireless infrastructure.

ME from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.