At IIT Roorkee, Saurav Kumar’s story extends far beyond his BTech degree in Engineering Physics. The 24-year-old graduate has designed and built a working lower-limb prosthetic, represented India at three international competitions and founded a waste-management startup incubated at the institute’s Technology Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development Society (TIDES).
Behind these achievements are early-morning swimming sessions, late-night snooker practice, independent experimentation and the challenge of financing his ambitions after graduation.
In May 2026, Kumar secured ninth position at the World Para Swimming Championships in Berlin, competing against athletes from more than 60 countries. A month later, he finished fifth at the World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand.
He also secured fourth position in snooker at the World Abilitysport Games in Finland. Yet, for the Patna native, these achievements are part of a larger journey that combines sport, engineering and a desire to make life better for others.
THE IIT ROORKEE BEYOND THE RANKINGS
Ask Kumar to show a visitor around the campus, and his first stop would be the Main Building, which he affectionately calls his “Taj Mahal”. Next would be the Student Club, where he spent hours playing snooker and eventually saw his name on the institute’s billiards and snooker champions’ list for 2024 and 2025. His third choice would be the Physics Department, where his interest in understanding how things work evolved into hands-on innovation.
“I would take visitors to the Main Building first, then the Student Club, where I spent most of my time playing snooker, and finally my Physics Department. The Main Building is like our Taj Mahal, but the department is where I learned not just physics, but also important lessons about life,” he says.
Kumar secured a Persons with Disabilities (PwD) rank of 165 in JEE Advanced 2021. Initially interested in aerospace engineering, he chose Engineering Physics because it aligned with his curiosity about electronics, mechanical systems and the science behind them. At IIT Roorkee, however, his days were not confined to lecture halls and laboratories.
His routine often began with swimming at 6 am, followed by classes, laboratory work and another swimming session in the evening. After dinner, he would practise snooker until 11 pm before returning to his studies.
The RKB Night Canteen was a familiar destination during examinations, while evenings with friends around the Main Building became some of his favourite campus memories.
“My day usually starts with swimming around 6 am and includes classes, laboratory work and another swimming session at 6 pm. After dinner, I practise snooker until 11 pm and then study until I fall asleep. People often think IIT students study for eight hours every day, but I believe smart work matters more than simply putting in long hours,” he adds.
FROM A PHYSICS LABORATORY TO A WORKING PROSTHETIC
Kumar’s most distinctive academic project emerged from his interest in engineering solutions with practical applications. He began designing and developing a lower-limb prosthetic, working on its design and automation with the aim of creating solutions that could benefit people with disabilities.
The project required him to venture beyond his supervisor’s principal area of expertise. Although the professor specialised in photonic physics rather than prosthetic design and automation, he agreed to supervise Kumar’s work.
Kumar conducted the experiments independently and did not take project funding during development. The working device and its design impressed both his supervisor and the evaluation panel at submission.
“I wanted to build something practical, not just study the theory behind it. I carried out the experiments myself and worked through the design and automation challenges independently. My supervisor’s specialisation was in photonic physics, but he supported the project. I also chose not to take project funding during development,” Kumar says.
The prosthetic project is now part of a broader ambition to develop automated solutions for people with lower-limb disabilities. His entrepreneurial interests extend to waste management: his early-stage deep-tech startup, incubated and funded through TIDES at IIT Roorkee, focuses on automating waste segregation.
For Kumar, the connection between engineering and social impact is central to both ventures. He wants his work to move beyond a laboratory demonstration and address problems that people encounter in everyday life.
“One of the biggest lessons I learned at IIT was how to face challenges and find solutions that help not only me but also other people. That is the thinking behind my prosthetic project and my work on waste segregation. I want technology to solve real problems, rather than remain something that exists only on paper,” he explains.
THE PEOPLE WHO HELPED HIM KEEP GOING
Kumar’s journey has been shaped as much by personal relationships as by his achievements. His father is a farmer, and financial difficulties once threatened to interrupt his education.
A friend, Shashi Raj Anand, helped him continue studying after Class 10, while another close friend, Mohammad Ejaj, supported him financially, physically and emotionally.
During his third year at IIT Roorkee, Kumar lost his mother to gallbladder cancer. Friends organised crowdfunding to help him through the crisis, and the institute also supported him during that difficult period.
These experiences have stayed with him as reminders of how much a person’s progress can depend on the people around them.
“After Class 10, I had decided to discontinue my education because of financial difficulties. Shashi Raj Anand saw potential in me when I struggled to see it myself and helped me continue studying. Later, when I lost my mother, my friends stood by me again. I would not be where I am today without their support,” he says.
In 2024, Kumar organised a motivational and awareness event for students with disabilities at IIT Roorkee, inviting para-athletes Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh and Pramod Bhagat. Meeting Shams Aalam, a para swimmer who competes internationally, became a turning point in his own sporting journey.
Today, Kumar guides more than 150 students with disabilities at the institute on their social and physical development.
“Meeting Aalam Sir changed the way I looked at my own possibilities. Seeing someone with a spinal cord injury swimming and representing India at the highest level made me realise that I could pursue the same path. That meeting gave me the confidence to commit seriously to swimming,” he recalled.
AFTER GRADUATION, THE NEXT CHALLENGE IS SUSTAINABILITY
Kumar graduated in 2025, but his work on sports and technology continues. IIT Roorkee supported him for a year after graduation and still allows him to use its swimming pool, gym and other sports facilities. He is grateful for this continued access, even as the end of financial assistance has made sustaining his ambitions more difficult.
International-level training involves expenses beyond access to facilities. Sporting equipment, medicines, training requirements, accommodation and daily living costs must all be met while he continues developing his two startup projects.
Balancing these commitments leaves limited scope for conventional employment without compromising his training and research.
“The institute has supported me far beyond my time as a student, and I am sincerely grateful that I can still use its sports facilities. But after graduation, managing my expenses has become difficult. I need support for equipment, medicines, training and living costs so that I can continue representing India while working on my technology projects,” Kumar adds.
His immediate goal is to represent India at the 2028 Paralympics and compete for a gold medal. Alongside his sporting ambitions, he hopes to take his prosthetic and waste-management projects further. His experience at IIT Roorkee has given him access to mentors, infrastructure and a community that helped turn these ambitions into tangible work.
“My goal is to represent India at the 2028 Paralympics and win a gold medal for the country. I also want to take my startup projects forward until they succeed. I am grateful to IIT Roorkee for everything it has done for me, and I hope to find the support needed to continue my journey in sport and technology,” he adds.
For Kumar, the next phase is not simply about adding more medals or completing another project. It is about finding the resources to sustain work that has already begun. Having built a working prosthetic through independent experimentation and earned international recognition in sport, he now faces a different challenge: securing the support that will allow him to keep competing, innovating and helping others.
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