Prof. Oopali Operajita
Chair & Founder
Senior Public Policy & International Affairs Adviser, India
Former Distinguished Faculty Fellow
Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Core Committee for the 2011 Competition
Prof. M.S. Ananth
Patron
Director, IIT Madras
Prof. V. G. Idichandy
Chariman
Deputy Director, IIT Madras
Prof. K. Krishnaiah
Member
Dean, Academic Research
IIT Madras
Prof. Job Kurian
Member
Dean, Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research
IIT Madras
Prof. M. Govardhan
Member
Dean, Students
IIT Madras
Dr. Sudhir Chella Rajan
Convenor
Head, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Madras
Dr. Ashwin Mahalingam
Co-Convenor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Madras
A. K. Nirmal
Mukesh Manjunath
Suraj K. Nair
Akand Sitra
Aditya Sriganesh
Student Coordinators
Board of Advisers
The Honourable Suresh P. Prabhu
Member of Parliament, India
Former Union Cabinet Minister, Environment
& Forests
Former Union Cabinet Minister, Chemicals
& Fertilizers
Former Union Cabinet Minister, Power,
Heavy
Industries &
Public Enterprises
Chairman, Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers
(with cabinet minister rank)
Dr. Wilfried Aulbur
Managing Director & CEO
Mercedes-Benz India Private Ltd., India
Dr. Abhay Abhyankar
Baillie Gifford Chair of Financial Markets
School of Management & Economics
The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Prof. Damodar Acharya
Director
Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur
India
Dr. Vijayakumar Bhagavatula
Associate Dean for Graduate & Faculty Affairs
College of Engineering
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Dr. Prodipto Ghosh
Distinguished Fellow,
The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), India
Former Secretary, Environment & Forests
Government of India
Dr. Kenneth Goldberg
Director, Berkeley Center for New Media
(BCNM)
Professor, Industrial Engineering
& Operations Research (IEOR)
Professor, Electrical Engineering
& Computer Sciences (EECS)
University of California at Berkeley, USA
Dr. R. A. Mashelkar
President, Global Research Alliance
Former Director General
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India
Former President, Indian National Science Academy
Fellow, The Royal Society, UK
Dr. Veer Bhadra Mishra*
President, The Sankat Mochan Foundation
Retired Professor of Hydraulic Engineering
Retired Head, Department of Civil Engineering
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), India
Dr. Baldev Raj, FTWAS, FNAE, FNA, FNASc., FASc.
Distinguished Scientist & Director
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, India
Honorary Member, International Committee on NDT
Member, German Academy of Sciences
Member, Academia NDT International
Mr. Ranjit Shahani
Vice Chairman & Managing Director
Novartis India Private Ltd., India
*Dr Veer Bhadra Mishra was named one of TIME’s
Heroes
for the Planet in 1999. Click here for details.
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Core Committee for the Competition
Prof. Amit Patra
Chairman
Dean of Alumni Affairs & International Relations
IIT Kharagpur
Prof. Pratap K. J. Mahapatra
Member
Dean of Post Graduate Studies & Research
IIT Kharagpur
Prof. Partha P. Chakrabarti
Member
Dean of Sponsored Research & Industrical Consultancy
(SRIC) Cell
IIT Kharagpur
Prof. Dhrubesh Biswas
Member
Managing Director, STEP
(Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Park)
IIT Kharagpur
Prof. B. K. Mathur
Member
Professor-in-charge, Training & Placement Cell
&
Department of Physics & Meteorology
IIT Kharagpur
Prof. Joy Sen
Convenor
Department of Architecture & Regional Planning
IIT Kharagpur
Nihit Desai
Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Madras
(Class of 2013)
Web & Technical Manager
INDIAN YOUTH CLIMATE NETWORK
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An
Entire Generation of India’s Brightest Students is Galvanized into Tackling Sustainability, Climate Change, Energy Security and the Environment Breaking News! Forbes '30 Under 30' features Vivek Nair, Team Leader of Nairao Inventions, Winners of 2010 Competition at IIT Madras
Vivek Nair, Team Leader of Nairao Inventions, winners of the 2010 competition at IIT Madras is featured in the energy category on Forbes' prestigious list for the very technology that won his team first prize (transforming industrial carbon emissions into carbon nanotubes). To present this technology, and transmute their idea into a business plan, the team was mentored rigorously by the competition's excellent mentors. Also on the list this year is Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. View Nair on Forbes' list here.
Winners of The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™ 2011 Announced
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The 2011 Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture
Competition™ was held September 24 - 25 at IIT Madras' beautiful new
research park, in Chennai, India. Team Green Nation Technologies from
the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh,
took first prize for Green Tin, a sustainable tin made of jute and
resin, which has already been used in housing projects to provide basic
shelter. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) took second prize for "Sampurn(e)arth", a decentralized, self-sustained system for waste handling. Two teams from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
tied for third prize. Other finalist teams were from IIM Shillong, IIM
Calcutta, IIT Delhi and IIT Madras. Eight eminent Managing Directors
and CEOs, well known cleantech experts, judged the competition, which
was outstanding, and conformed to the highest international academic
benchmarks. India's first woman Additional Solicitor General, The
Honourable Indira Jaising, gave away the awards on September 25. The
Hindu's article on the competition is here; the Indian Express's article is here; and CNN-IBN's article is here. View the 2011 competition gallery here.
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IIT Madras to Host The 2011 Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™, India, in Chennai, September 22 ─ 25, 2011.
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IIT Madras
is to be the Education Partner of Asia's first and most prestigious
sustainable/cleantech venture Competition in 2011. Collaborators this
year are the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CEI), at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, The Indus Entrepreneurs, (TiE) the world’s largest network of entrepreneurs, the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and The Indo-German Centre for Sustainability at IIT Madras. View the 2010 Competition Photo Gallery. Read Carnegie Mellon University's story on Oopali Operajita and the history and origin of the competition, which she founded in February 2007, here.
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The competition is now in its fourth
year, and follows the third official Al Gore Sustainable Technology
Venture Competition™ at IIT Madras September 30 – October 3, 2010,
which generated great success stories (see below). Rules and
Regulations for the competition can be downloaded here. Download the poster for the competition here. For a Sample Business Plan Format, click here.
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Plans Being Accepted: July 30 – August 10, 2011
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Deadline for Electronic Submission of Plans: August 10, 2011 (11:59 PM)
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Declaration of Finalists: August 20, 2011
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Mentoring Period: August 21 – September 20, 2011
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Intensive Mentoring at IIT Madras: September 22 – 23, 2011
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Live Presentations to the IIT Madras Judges’ Panel: September 24, 2011
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Awards Ceremony at IIT Madras: September 25, 2011
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CASH PRIZES WORTH Rs. 2,00,000 WILL BE AWARDED
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For further enquiries, please email us at: agstvc (at) gmail (dot) com or agstvc (dot) iitm (at) gmail (dot) com
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Important! Should you require expert initial-stage advice and mentoring, you should contact the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CEI) at IIM Calcutta. Please send us email at: agstvc (at) gmail (dot) com, and mention: CEI-IIMC Mentoring in the Subject section of your message. NB: The cutoff date to request to connect with CEI, IIM Calcutta is July 24, 2011.
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2010 Competition |
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Winners of The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™ India 2010 Announced.
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Team Arid Energy (IIT Kharagpur),
Finalist at the 2010 Competition, Wins One of Two Special Student
Awards at Ecomagination Challenge 2010, Awarded Grant of US $10,000 by
General Electric
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Here's the link to General Electric's press release in India's leading daily, The Times of India, Bangalore, 17th Nov, 2010.
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SASTRA University’s Team Leader, Vivek Nair Sahadevan, Awarded 12,000 Euros ($17,560) As a Winner of the Master Your Idea Challenge, Sweden for "A Unique Solution to Stop Climate Change," A Revised Version of the Business Plan Which Won First Prize at the Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™, 2010.
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The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition, India, 2010, was held September 29 – October 3 at one of the world’s leading institutions for higher education: the stunning and sylvan Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.
Seven leading CEOs and MDs, of major venture capital firms, and from
industry, judged the competition. Team Nairao Inventions (Sastra
University, Thanjavur) took first prize, for a new means of capturing
carbon from industrial exhaust to create relatively inexpensive
industry-grade Carbon Nanotubes (CNT); and Team Think Innoventions (IIT
Kharagpur - IIM Ahmedabad), took second prize, for a novel way to
desalinate sea water. View the 2010 Competition Photo Gallery. Read Carnegie Mellon University's story on Oopali Operajita and the history and origin of the competition, which she founded in February 2007, here.
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Congratulations to IIT Madras on having its
alum, Prof. Subra Suresh, former dean of engineering at MIT, nominated
by President Obama as Director of the National Science Foundation, USA.
Suresh was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 30, 2010, for a
six-year term and sworn in October 18. Read the official press release here.
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IIT Madras
is to be the Education Partner of Asia's first and most prestigious
sustainable/cleantech venture competition in 2010. The competition is
now in its third year, and comes on the heels of the phenomenal success
of the second official Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture
Competition™ at IIT Kharagpur, November 6-7, 2009. Rules and
Regulations for the competition can be downloaded here. Download the poster for the competition here. For a Sample Business Plan Format click here.
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| The 2009 competition winners have successfully founded a company with venture capitalist funding worth US$2.1 million. View the 2009 Competition Photo Gallery. The
US Consul General in Kolkata, Ms. Beth Payne, represented the United
States government at the 2009 competition awards ceremony. Read her
speech here. |
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We
wish to congratulate IIT Madras on its alum, Gururaj Deshpande,
chairman of Tejas Networks, A123 and Akshaya Patra, being appointed
co-chair of President Barack Obama's National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Mr. Deshpande will support President Obama's innovation strategy by
helping develop policies that foster entrepreneurship, create jobs and
drive economic growth. Mr. Deshpande has started and taken public three
multi-billion-dollar companies, including A123 Systems, which debuted
well on Nasdaq. |
IIT Madras Finalist Team (Greenext Technology Solutions) from 2009 Al
Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™ Wins First Coveted
'Next Idea' Prize from New York City. Here's a link to the story. Here's the coverage on NDTV 24x7. |
Team Eventure, from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong
(Neeraj Sharma and Hari Krishnan), a finalist at the 2009 Al Gore
Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™, has won the prestigious
WagonR Think Big Challenge Competition. Here's the story in one of India's leading dailies, the Times of India.
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Team Canopus India,
finalists at the 2009 Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture
Competition™, is one of only 42 teams worldwide selected to compete at
the Rice Business Plan Competition, the world's largest business plan competition, April 15-17, 2010, at Rice University, USA. Team Canopus India officially represents India and India's flagship institute: the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
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Manoj Kumar Mandelia of Team Canopus India,
IIT Kharagpur, (Second Prize Winners at the 2009 Al Gore Sustainable
Technology Venture Competition™, IIT Kharagpur, India) awarded Global
Honour as one of MIT Technology Review's TOP 20 Innovators of India at
MIT's EmTech Conference, Bangalore. Here is a link to the story.
Mandelia is the youngest of MIT's Top 20 Innovators in India.
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The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™
Asia's first and most prestigious sustainable/clean technology business
plan competition, founded in 2007, is the brainchild of Oopali
Operajita, CEO, Cicero, A Trans National Advisory, a Senior Political
and International Affairs Adviser to several of India’s prominent
political leaders and a former Distinguished Faculty Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Operajita was appointed at Carnegie Mellon by its legendary founder-president, President Richard Cyert,
and she firmly established India and India studies there, as far back
as 1989, bringing India's ambassadors and leaders to visit campus for
the first time. Operajita thought up an exclusive All India Sustainable
Technology Venture Competition in honour of Vice President and Nobel
laureate Al Gore. She named it for Al Gore, with encouragement from
some of Gore’s colleagues from his White House days, and launched the First Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition
in November 2007. Finalists were invited to make live presentations
before an eminent judging panel on February 11-12, 2008, in New Delhi.
The impetus and motivating force lay in Operajita’s wish to galvanize
an entire generation of India’s formidable engineering, science,
technology and management students — widely acknowledged as
some of the brightest in the world — from its leading
institutions, such as its legendary Indian Institutes of Technology
(IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes
of Management (IIMs), as she says, “into thinking sustainability, and
incorporating it into their mindsets, and coming up with sustainable
technology solutions, for the future of the imperilled planet.”
Further, she states, “Indians are known as some of the world’s greatest
innovators and entrepreneurs, and I wanted to tap into this incredibly
rich resource pool with one stroke.”
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2009 Competition |
ASSOCHAM and IIT Kharagpur are Official Partners of The Al Gore
Sustainable Technology Venture Competition, November 6-7, 2009 at IIT
Kharagpur, West Bengal, India.
Mercedes-Benz India is Official Sponsor. |
IIT Bombay-IIM Bangalore win First Prize, IIT Kharagpur wins Second
Prize, in The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™,
2009, November 6-7, at IIT Kharagpur, India. |
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| Focusing on the intellectual, technological,
entrepreneurial, innovation and management skills that Brand IIT is
renowned for, across the world, since 1952, The Al Gore Sustainable
Technology Venture Competition™ India, 2009 attracted the best minds in
the country and was a phenomenal success. A stellar panel of judges
lent much to the event. IIM Bangalore's press release is available here. IIM Bangalore is currently ranked as India's top business school. View the list of finalist teams at the competition here. View Photo Gallery. |
ASSOCHAM,
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, India’s apex
industry and commerce body, is the official industry partner of The Al
Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™. Under the
trail blazing leadership of its current president, leading
industrialist Mr. Sajjan Jindal, Vice Chairman and Managing
Director of JSW Steel Limited,
India, ASSOCHAM has emerged as a prominent industry leader worldwide
both in the fight against global warming and in enhancing India’s
energy security. Mr. Jindal was a generous sponsor of activities during
Vice President Gore’s visit to India in March, 2008, and supports the
India arm of Gore’s Climate Project. The next competition will be held at the legendary Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Kharagpur, India.
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Mercedes-Benz India is the official sponsor of the competition.
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Click here to download the poster for the 2009 competition. Download IIT Kharagpur's poster here.
For further information, please contact: joysen (at) arp (dot) iitkgp (dot) ernet (dot) in or agstvc (at) gmail (dot) com
We congratulate IIT Kharagpur for being ranked at the top
of India's fabled IITs. Brand IIT is India's top academic brand − world
renowned, and held in the highest regard, internationally − and it only
gets better each year. IIT Kharagpur alone boasts of 3 of Fortune 500's
top CEOs. Our competition is both honoured and proud to have IIT
Kharagpur as our education partner this year.
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2008 Competition |
Details about the 2008 competition can be had here: Poster, List of Judges, and Awards Ceremony attachment.
(Fabled designer Dan Boyarski, Head of the Design Department at
Carnegie Mellon University, designed the award-winning poster specially
for his colleague, Oopali Operajita, with inputs from her.)
The winners of the first competition were National Institute of
Technology (Rourkela), which won the first prize, and Mudra Institute
of Communications, Ahmedabad, which won the second prize.
The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition™ is delighted to have the Indian Youth Climate Network as a partner.
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