BITS Pilani classroom idea about queues becomes startup used at fuel stations
Prof. Vinay Chamola of BITS Pilani received a National Award for Teachers for his work in mentoring students and fostering innovation. His mentorship helped students develop 'Nawgati,' a startup that uses data-driven queue management to improve efficiency at fuel stations across India.
Why it matters
It highlights the success of academic-to-industry pipelines and the role of experiential learning in solving real-world infrastructure problems.
What begins as a classroom problem does not always end with an assignment submission. At BITS Pilani, one student project on managing queues eventually evolved into a technology startup working to make fuel stations more efficient across India.The journey is among the examples that underline why Prof. Vinay Chamola, Associate Professor at BITS Pilani, has been recognised with the National Award for Teachers 2026.The award, conferred by the Ministry of Education, recognises his contributions to teaching, technological innovation, experiential learning and student mentorship. President Droupadi Murmu presented the national honour to him at Vigyan Bhawan on Teachers' Day, September 5, 2026.From a classroom problem to a real-world solutionThe startup, Nawgati, grew from a student course project focused on queuing systems.
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