Thiruvananthapuram, April 27 (IANS): To ignite young minds to the importance of constant ideation and innovation, a visiting scholar from the US is holding workshops in India so as to prepare 1,000 entrepreneurs in three years.

Rajesh Nair, 53, a visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US since 2013, has initiated the innovation workshops as his mission across various institutes in the country.

Hailing from this capital city, Nair told IANS about having interacted and taught at engineering colleges in India, IIT and MIT. He has also set up TechTop, the country's first ever national-level innovation contest for engineering colleges.

"As for the smartness of students, I do not see any difference between these institutions. The major difference is exposure. Students with better exposure can extrapolate ideas easier. We may mistake it for smartness.

"So if students at these smaller colleges are exposed to basics of innovation and entrepreneurship, we can make a significant difference," said Nair, who has 13 patents to his name.

The country, according to him, needs to generate one million new jobs, as half of its population is under 27 years of age.