PHOTO: AFP
A team from Aitchison College Lahore was declared winner of the Idea Junction competition at the Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs’ Summit 2016 (YLES’16) that concluded at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Sunday.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, team members Rafay Hassan, Ahmed Saeed, Sannan Saleh, Arbaz Omar and Widad Kamran said that they had come up with the idea of using biological fuel cell technology to produce electricity and safe drinking water at a low cost. They said the technology was vital for Pakistan which was facing an electricity crisis and where a large population was deprived of safe drinking water. They said the manufacturing cost of one such unit would be $400 and it would electrify 10 households.
They said the proposed technology used water-borne bacteria to produce electricity; clean drinking water would be a byproduct of the process to generate power.
“We learned a lot from this event. It provided us with an opportunity to interact with students from other parts of the country and learn from their experiences,” Kamran said. The team stressed the need for working on products needed most by the people in Pakistan.
The Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, was declared runner-up and Business Masterminds from Karachi stood third. The final day saw students competing to win finals of all four events of the competition. Results were announced at a dinner hosted late on Sunday for 126 teams participating from across the country, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar.
The winners received a trophy and mono cruisers. As many as 10 teams had qualified for the Social Sustainability Competition while 15 competed for the finals of Investomania. The Plug It In contest saw 12 teams in the final round whereas 12 teams qualified for the final round of Brand Rush. Eight teams competed for the Idea Junction contest.
Several workshops featuring industry professionals were part of the event. These provided students with a platform to learn about real-world challenges from professionals.
Anas Raza, one of the organisers, said the competition aimed at promoting a modern culture of business practices and equipping students with skills needed to become part of the corporate world. “It helped students interact with professionals and get an insider’s look at the world of business.” He said the workshop had been designed in a way that each team was able to critically evaluate its ideas.
The summit ended with a dinner arranged for the participating teams.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2016.
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