The PU Advantage for students to grow globally!
Most innovation courses focus on creating new products, services, or technologies. Affordable innovation focuses on a different question: how do you take something that already exists but is too expensive for most people and redesign it so that it becomes accessible – without losing the core function? This is the question that the joint credit COIL Course on Affordable Innovation between PIERC Parul University and BFH Switzerland (Bern University of Applied Sciences) is built around.
The course’s first objective is raising awareness about affordable innovation because it is often overlooked. The second is helping students identify market opportunities that create both economic and social value. The third is developing intercultural skills to scale ideas across India and Switzerland – two very different economic and cultural contexts. The five examples shared during the inaugural session on 21 February 2026 illustrate why this discipline matters.
The PU Advantage for students to grow globally!
From global collaborations to outstanding placements and research strength, these achievements reflect a commitment to holistic growth and innovation.
Expansive Campus – 200+ acre modern, well-equipped campus designed for world-class learning and research
● Large Student Community – 70,500+ students enrolled across diverse disciplines
● Global Diversity – 5,500+ international students representing 75+ countries
● International Collaborations – 120+ global academic and industry tie-ups
● Strong Industry Connect – 2,200+ recruiters actively hiring graduates
● Outstanding Placements – Highest package reaching 60 LPA
● Wide Academic Offerings – 200+ undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs
● Recognized Excellence – 175+ national and international awards and accolades
● Innovation & Entrepreneurship – ₹15+ crore in startup funding supporting student ventures
● Research Strength – ₹25+ crore secured in research funding
● Highly Qualified Faculty – 200+ professors from premier institutes like NITs, IITs, IISc, NIDs, and NIFTs
● Global Academic Exposure – 100+ international visiting professors
● Robust Teaching Force – 3,500+ experienced faculty members
● Residential Facilities – 27,000+ in-campus accommodation capacity
Example 1: Sysmex Partech Flow Cytometry Machine - Affordable Medical Diagnostics
Flow cytometry machines are used in medical laboratories to check and count blood cells, essential for diagnosing infections, blood disorders, and cancers. These machines are typically very expensive, limiting their use to large hospitals in well-funded healthcare systems.
Innovations in affordable medical diagnostics demonstrate how affordable innovation can expand healthcare access without reducing the core diagnostic capability.
Example 2: OneDollar Glasses - Bending Machine for Global Vision Access
Prescription eyeglasses are unaffordable for hundreds of millions of people in lower-income regions. OneDollar Glasses developed a simple bending machine that shapes wire into eyeglass frames, enabling production of a complete pair of glasses for approximately one dollar.
Example 3: IndiGo Airlines - Making Air Travel Affordable in India
Before low-cost carriers, air travel in India was accessible only to affluent passengers. IndiGo Airlines redesigned the airline cost structure – standardising fleet (reducing maintenance costs), eliminating non-essential services, optimising turnaround times, and using secondary airports where possible. The result: ticket prices low enough that millions of people who had never considered flying could now afford it.
Example 4: Yield Pro Earth - Affordable Irrigation for Indian Farmers (PIERC-Incubated)
This example came from PIERC Parul University’s startup incubation ecosystem. Yield Pro Earth Pvt. Ltd., incubated at PIERC, developed affordable flexible irrigation pipes for small and marginal farmers and are even holding patents for its innovation. It is an agri-tech startup that developed affordable flexible irrigation pipes specifically for small and marginal Indian farmers. Existing irrigation systems were too expensive, did not last in field conditions, and were difficult for small-scale farmers to use.
Example 5: Energy Vault Gravity Energy Storage - Switzerland
Renewable energy from wind and solar is intermittent – it is only generated when the wind blows or the sun shines. Energy storage solves this by storing excess energy for later use. Energy Vault, a Swiss company, developed gravity-based energy storage systems that are 5-7 times cheaper than competing solutions.
| What These Five Examples Have in Common: None of them invented a fundamentally new technology. Each one took an existing solution – diagnostics, eyewear, air travel, irrigation, energy storage – and redesigned the cost structure, manufacturing process, or business model to make it accessible to people who were previously excluded. That is affordable innovation: not creating new things, but making essential things reachable. |
FAQ - Affordable Innovation
What is affordable innovation?
Affordable innovation redesigns existing products, services, or systems to make them accessible to people who cannot afford them in their current form without reducing core functionality.
Is affordable innovation the same as frugal innovation?
They overlap but are not identical. Frugal innovation emphasises doing more with less - often in resource-constrained environments.
Can I study affordable innovation at Parul University?
Yes. The COIL credit course on Affordability in Innovation and Entrepreneurship is jointly offered by PIERC and BFH (Switzerland) for PG students
