An all-girls team from IIT Delhi and ISB
Mohali wins the Season 1 of ‘The Power of
Shunya™: Challenge for Zero’;
Wins
Cash Prize of Rs 10 Lakhs and a paid-trip to DuPont headquarters in the USA
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New
Delhi, December 16, 2013: An all-girls team of Maumita
Bhattacharjee from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and Sannidhi Jhala
from Indian School of Business, Mohali, emerged as the winners of the Season 1
of ‘The Power of Shunya™:
Challenge for Zero’. In a competition spanning 10
weeks, this team beat 23 other teams of students from India’s premier science
& technology institutes and B-schools to win the grand prize of a cash
award or INR
1,000,000 (Rupees Ten Lakhs only) and a paid experience to the global DuPont
headquarters and the Experimental Station at Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
The winners were announced at the grand finale of the show that aired last
weekend (Saturday, Dec 14 and Sunday, Dec 15) on ET Now and the prize money was
given away by Dr Rajeev Vaidya, President – south Asia & Asean, DuPont.
Three other teams who
finished in the top 4 also won cash awards, they are
- First runners-up team of Vaibhav Tidke from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Ankit Singh from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi won INR 500,000 and a paid experience to DuPont India
- Second runners-up team of Abitha R from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Vikas Gujral from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad won INR 250,000 and a paid experience to DuPont India
- Third runners-up team of Prerna Nath from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi and Sanket Kshatriya from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon won INR 100,000.
The 10-week on-air competition was
hosted by popular television anchor Gaurav Kapur and was adjudged by an eminent
panel of jury including Dr. Homi
Bhedwar -Technology Director, South Asia & Asean, DuPont; Vani Kola – MD,
Kalaari; Harish Hande – MD, Selco India; and Rajeev Karwal - Founder & CEO,
Milagrow. Dr. Kiran Karnik, member of the Scientific
Advisory Council and the National Innovation Council, was a special juror during the grand
finale round telecast last weekend.
The winning duo
impressed the jury with their innovation and marketing strategy for an
apparatus to make silk fiber-based lamellar bio-materials for use during surgical
interventions for patients with lower back pain, a severe health issue around
the world, particularly among the elderly.
Jury member Homi
Bhedwar said, “Science & technology are absolutely fundamental to meeting
the needs for food, energy and protection of India’s growing population. “The Power of Shunya™ - Challenge for Zero is
an excellent way for DuPont, a science company, to fuel the passion and ignite
the young minds of the University students and I hope it will encourage them to
pursue science-based problem solving as they contribute to India’s, and the
world’s, growth and development.”
The winner, Maumita
Bhattacharjee from IIT, Delhi said, “Power
of Shunya was the best platform where I could bring up the strategy to make
people aware and to promote this kind of technology, which is at an advantage
among the other currently available artificial processes. It gives me a great
sense of accomplishment to be adjudged among the best’. Her team-mate Sannidhi
Jhala from ISB, Mohali added, “Seeing so many innovations has motivated me to
go out and make a difference and do something big in life.”
The Challenge for Zero is a university competition. In its
first season it invited the best young minds from science, technology and
business schools of India to come together and showcase ground-breaking
innovations and their go-to-market strategies. As part of the format to
encourage collaboration between budding scientists and emerging marketers, each
team comprised a science & technology student paired
with a B-school student. The challenge to the students was to develop a
science-based innovation and its marketing plan to help India achieve the aspiration
goal of Shunya or zero - a country of zero hunger, zero
malnutrition, zero accidents, zero lives lost, zero carbon footprint. The contestants were judged based on
their product’s innovation quotient, its functionality, its potential impact
and its ability to achieve the Power of Zero.
The competition witnessed a magnitude of path-breaking
innovations, shortlisted from 250 entries down to 24 most impactful
ones. These top 24 teams were then given a two-week window to develop
their product presentations and business plans to present to the jury.
------------------------------
About DuPont: DuPont (NYSE: DD) has
been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in
the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating
with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find
solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people
everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the
environment. For additional information
about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com/
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Business News channel, helps you make money every day, by providing breaking
news that impacts the market, trading strategies, cutting edge analysis and
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