Boy who built Iron Man suit from scrap now studies at university run by Anand Mahindra’s group

Ningombam Prem from Manipur is an inspiration for many. (Image credit: @anandmahindra/Twitter)

In 2021, a child from Manipur had gained fame online for building a replica of the Iron Man suit from scrap. A year after being noticed by Mahindra Group Chairperson Anand Mahindra, he has kickstarted his engineering journey.

Sharing an update about the teenager, named Ningombam Prem, Anand Mahindra said he had accepted an offer to study at the university run by his group in Hyderabad.

"Many of you may remember Prem’s story," the industrialist tweeted on August 28. "We were delighted when he accepted our offer of joining Mahindra University, where he is now an engineering student."

Many of you may remember Prem’s story. We were delighted when he accepted our offer of joining @MahindraUni where he is now an engineering student. And this past summer he interned at Mahindra’s Auto Design Studio under the tutelage of @BosePratap (1/2) https://t.co/x1KAfsGxAY

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 28, 2022

Prem interned with Mahindra Group's Auto Design Studio and was mentored by their Chief Design Officer Pratap Bose. And he excelled there too.

"Prem’s had a very successful summer internship, working specifically on advanced car door opening mechanisms," Mahindra tweeted. "Most important Pratap praised Prem’s inclination to ‘learn by making things.’ We need more of that mode of education!"

Prem belongs to Heirok village in Manipur’s Thoubal district, according to a report in the Northeast Today. He always wanted to build a robot and was fascinated by Hollywood movies.

"The craze for Iron Man costume started around 2015," he was quoted as saying by the website. "One reason for creating (the suit) is – I want to add this scientific effect in Manipuri films as most of the stories are based on romantic films (sic),” he added.

The child did not have enough resources for the suit.  But he did not abandon his idea and began collecting scrap to build the armour.

Impressed by Prem's efforts, Mahindra had announced in 2021 that his group would help with him and his siblings with their education.