Students from IIT Madras win ‘GE Edison Challenge 2011’; walk away with Rs.
5 lakhs of award money!
Bangalore, 13th December 2011: The fourth edition of ‘GE Edison Challenge’ held at the John F
Welch Technology Centre (GE JFWTC) in Bangalore, GE’s largest multi disciplinary research centre
(outside the US), saw “Team Nautilus” from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras emerge as
winners and were awarded the grand prize of Rs. 5 lakhs. The winning team’s entry was lauded by
a panel of judges comprising of Dr. Gopichand Katragadda - General Manager, India Energy
Operations for GE Energy Infrastructure, Ashok Das, CEO, Sunmoksha, Prabha Chatterjee, an ex-GE
Global Research Employee and Rajesh Shah, Founder - Peer Water Exchange.
As a part of the Challenge, students were required to create a design of a new building complex that
is commercially feasible in an Indian city or rural area and that incorporates the state-of-the-art water
technologies needed to meet the future water crisis. The students were required to create a model
and justify any new scientific or engineering innovation with relevant supporting data or research.
Commenting on the occasion Mr. Mano Manoharan, General Manager, GE Global Research said;
“The 2011 edition of the ‘GE Edison Challenge’ is unique as it encouraged students to come up with
innovative solutions for saving usable water for future. It is estimated, that by 2030 the global demand
for usable water will exceed supply by about 40% unless there are radical changes in water
consumption and new technological advances. I was impressed with the balance of innovative ideas
and practicality demonstrated by both the winning team and the runners’ up“.
The winning team’s project proposes two major strategies to solve the issue of the lack of ground
water table. Their solution provides two ideas – groundwater recharge and treatment of discharge.
The solution also incorporates energy saving mechanisms, and focuses on reducing both the capital
and operational costs.
Team “The Green Tribe” from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore were
chosen as the first runners up. The team additionally won the “Audient Choice Award” where JFWTC
employees cast their votes for the team with the best idea, therefore winning a total of Rs. 2.5 lakhs.
Team “ICT Scholars” from Inst. of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India were the 2nd runners up
and were awarded Rs. 1.5 lakhs.
“This year's GE Edison Challenge was based on the theme “charting our water future” to encourage
young generation to bring out innovative ideas to help find solutions for conserving water. I was
impressed to see that the ideas these students had to offer were very innovative, cost effective and
more importantly solutions that could reach rural and underdeveloped areas of the country too."
added Dr. Gopichand Katragadda - General Manager, India Energy Operations, Leader for this
year’s Edison Challenge.
Last year’s Edison Challenge saw students from reputed engineering institutions pulling their thoughts
together to study on what is plaguing the healthcare industry and offer solutions in the field of rural
healthcare. 70 teams from some of India’s leading technical schools registered to showcase their
solutions at the Edison Challenge 2010.
The evaluation was on the basis of innovation and novelty, feasibility and potential impact of idea,
customer value / commercialization and quality of compilation. Their presentation abilities were also
tested to see if they could deliver their message clearly, bring clarity of data and solutions presented
and showcase creativity and imagination in the tools used for presentation.
About the ‘GE Edison Challenge’
It is a unique science and engineering competition that challenges the imagination and technical
expertise of tomorrow’s inventors. GE launched this national contest back in 2008 with the aim of
finding the best scientific and engineering talent. The ‘GE Edison Challenge’ epitomizes imaginative
thinking, technical innovation, engineering, cutting-edge industrial design and in-depth business
knowledge. The competition provides an opportunity for the best and brightest students of India’s
finest technical institutions to provide solutions to some of the country’s most pressing issues.
About The GE John F. Welch Technology Centre
The GE John F. Welch Technology Centre (GE JFWTC), Bangalore is General Electric's (GE) first
and largest integrated multidisciplinary Research and Development Centre outside the US. Close to
4000 scientists, researchers and engineers work on GE's on global technology and engineering
programs that is shaping the future of almost all GE businesses including energy, aviation,
transportation, consumer and industrial and Healthcare and help create game-changing technologies
and innovations to ensure GE's growth and leadership.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the
toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance.
Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more
information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com
For further information please contact:
Smriti Raghunandan/ Frenny Doshi
Genesis Burson-Marsteller
Mob: +91 9739002073 +91 9739913667
Email: smriti.raghunandan@bm.com/ frenny.doshi@bm.com