Ideas and creativity are the most important human resources of all. Without ideas and creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. Creativity is thinking up new things and innovation is doing new things. Team StrawDeshi comprising of fourth year students Ayushman Agrawal (Mechanical Engineering), Daivik Agrawal (Mechanical Engineering), Purva Agrawal (Mining) and Tanishq Mittal (Metallurgy) from IIT Kharagpur emerged as winners at the Mumbai Summit of the Hult Prize 2023. StrawDeshi competed among 40 teams in the campus round of the Hult Prize.
Team StrawDeshi’s idea was to use agro-waste rice straw as a raw material and extract its fibre to create winter jacket insulation, replacing down feathers, cotton and polyester filling materials.
The second round consisted of 12 summits worldwide, in which Team StrawDeshi won at t
he Mumbai Summit which had 70 teams participating from IITs, IIMs and other colleges, majorly from South Asia. Their extraordinary ideas and commitment have secured them a spot in the Global Accelerator where they would be one of 20 teams across the globe working to improve and launch their product. Finally, six teams will compete in the finals to be held in Paris. For the three consecutive years, teams from IIT Kharagpur are winning in the category of South East Asia Region.
The Hult Prize is an annual, year-long competition that crowdsources ideas from university level students after challenging them to solve a pressing social issue around topics such as food security, water access, energy, and education with a $1 million as the anchor prize. It transforms how young people envision their own possibilities as Leaders of Change in the world around them.
The 2023 Hult Prize Call to Action is about creating a for-profit social venture, in the fashion/clothing industry. Ideas from students must create a measurable positive impact on people and the planet and support the United Nations in meeting its Social Development Goals by 2030.
Inputs by : Mr. Samarth Singh, Student Vice President, Technology Students Gymkhana
Email: samarth2003@kgpian.iitkgp.ac.in
Edited by : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007
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