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3M India Celebrates Young Innovators at the '3M-CII Young Innovators Challenge Awards 2018'BANGALORE, July 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
3M-CII Young Innovators Challenge Awards announced its fifth edition of winners today at the Fourteenth CII Innovation Summit in Bangalore. With over 500 entries from across India, under 3 broad categories - Technology, Rural and Social innovation, this year witnessed the growing popularity of this platform. Recognising the importance of rural development, this year's awards process was more inclusive with targeted focus on rural innovations as a category. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/718194/3M_CII_Innovation_Summit.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/557187/3M_Limited_Logo.jpg ) 3M-CII Young Innovators Award is celebrating five years of investing in 'Youth & Innovation'. The Challenge this year looked for disruptive innovations that could create a better India in the areas of health, education, livelihood, environment, art and culture, and governance or inclusive development. Of the 500 entries received this year, the top 54 entries were selected by experts from development and technical sector. The 19 best ideas were shortlisted to pitch their innovation to an independent jury, based on which, six winners were selected. This year the newly introduced category - 'Rural Innovations Award', seeks to extend opportunities to innovators from last mile communities and remote rural areas to build resilience to the social, economic and physical challenges that India is facing. Nominations were received from organizations and individuals who have the experience of working in remote rural areas and have engaged with young innovations communities, to bring to the forefront exemplary innovators who are working towards sustainable rural development. Innovation is ingrained in 3M's DNA, and in 2014 it had instituted the Young Innovators Challenge in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to create a forum to recognise innovative ideas having an impact on the community. The award offers a level-playing field to young innovators - from grassroot innovators right up to premier schools. A part of the sustained support extended by 3M India, the winners are - given suppor and mentorship in areas like R&D, commercialisation etc. and also the opportunity to engage with Nobel scientists who visit India under the aegis of the Nobel Prize Series, of which 3M is an exclusive global partner. Congratulating the winners and highlighting the need to innovate, Ms. Debarati Sen, Managing Director, 3M India, commented, "We have been present in India for 30 years now. India is among the fastest growing economies of the world and has emerged as a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. We are cognizant of the fact that our country's sustained development is attributed to constant innovation fuelled by the young population. Year on year, we receive path breaking ideas from youth innovators across the country who are focused on creating a better future for India, and through this 3M-CII Young Innovators Challenge, we seek to identify and support such young innovators." "The new Rural Innovation category which we introduced this year has received a resounding response," she added. The following are the winners and the runner up projects of the categories. WINNING PROJECTS UNDER TECH-INNOVATION CATEGORY: WINNER Project Title: Barefoot Science Laboratories RUNNER-UP Project Title: TouchVision-Enabling Inclusive Education WINNING PROJECTS UNDER RURAL-INNOVATION CATEGORY: WINNER Project Title: Panchayat Sikshan Kendra RUNNER-UP Project Title: BAANSULI (Bamboo Artisan Socio-Economic upliftment initiative) WINNING PROJECTS UNDER SOCIAL-INNOVATION CATEGORY: WINNER Project Title: Child-standing Wheelchair RUNNER-UP Project Title: Soy Protein - Making a difference SPECIAL RECOGNITION Project Title: SteamIT About 3M India At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 91,000 employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to the world's problems at http://www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews. About CII The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes. CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded in 1895, India's premier business association has over 8000 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 200,000 enterprises from around 240 national and regional sectoral industry bodies. Media Contact: |