Proud moment for IIT Madras: Students bag first, third positions in UK India Social Innovation Challenge

Indian Institute of Technology Madras Students have bagged the first and third positions in UK India Social Innovation Challenge. This was the 2nd edition of the competition launched by the UK India Social Entrepreneurship Education Network (UKISEEN) which aims to find, fund and support innovative and sustainable solutions to the global problem of waste management. The competition is a collaboration between the Social Impact Lab, University of Southampton, Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, IIT Madras, the open innovation platform ‘Babele,’ and British Council.

Speaking about the importance of this Competition, Prof R. Nagarajan, Head, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, and Faculty Coordinator, CSIE (Centre for Social innovation & Entrepreneurship), said, “Waste management is a more practical solution than waste elimination, given that every process generates waste as by-product. This competition tests not only the innovative abilities of students, but also their business acumen. The latter is an aspect that many technologists tend to ignore until too late.”

The competitors had to submit a business model for a social enterprise which tackles the issues of Waste Management. Twelve projects made it to the final round. Below are the top-ranked projects:

1st Place: Recycling of demolished waste concrete using solar energy – IIT Madras Team,

2nd Place: Eco-Friendly Construction blocks from C&D Debris using the Innovative CO2 Sequestration Technique - Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamil Nadu,

3rd Place: Catalytic Degradation of kraft lignin by Ultraviolet Light and Ultrasound - IIT Madras Team.