Press Release

Winning entry focusses on pollution free Cities for India

Shubhojit Mallick was today adjudged the winner of the ‘Dalmia Bharat Smart City Contest’ which was conducted in collaboration with Ashoka University and NASA Research Park based Singularity University. Shubhojit Mallick won the contest for hisinnovative project in Bangalore that captures pollutants from automobiles using Nanocylinders to reduce pollution. The contest was conducted over two months and received several entries from across India and Asia. A first of its kind, the contest enabled Indian students to participate in the annual Global Impact Competition (GIC) of Singularity University that is conducted across various countries. The winner received a fellowship worth USD 30,000 and will also attend the Graduate Studies Program (GSP) at Singularity University, US.

Mr. Puneet Dalmia, MD, Dalmia Bharat Group, commented, “We are glad that the first of our initiatives under the MoU between Ashoka University and Singularity University has come to a successful completion. We are proud to have opened new avenues for youth in India and will continue to do so in the future. The GIC has received tremendous response from students all over India and we are happy to have played a small role in helping support the Governments vision of building smart cities across India.” Singularity University has been conducting the GIC for two years across markets with a different focus and theme for every geography. In India, the contest was launched on January 2, 2015, opening a platform for Indian students to develop innovative ideas that are focussed on helping further India’s dream of building 100 smart cities in the next 3-5 years. The winner will also represent India amongst other students from all over the world at Singularity University.

The six member eminent jury comprised of Puneet Dalmia, MD, Dalmia Bharat, Emeline Paat Dahlstrom, Chief Impact Officer, Singularity University, Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC TV18, Vineet Gupta, Founder, Ashoka University and Jamboree India, Dr. Harish Choudhary, Associate Professor, IIT Delhi and Piyush Tiwari, Rolex Awardee, Echoing Green Fellow, Founder, Safe Life Foundation.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vineet Gupta, Founder, Ashoka University said: “It gives us immense pleasure to open up such avenues for students in India. The contest was organized to highlight the need for innovation and technology in helping realised India’s dream of smart cities. Being a young university, we look forward to divulging students to look for such opportunities and constantly experimenting beyond education. The overwhelming response which we have received from students, motivates us to continue doing something new at such a large scale. ”

Emeline Paat Dahlstrom, Chief Impact Officer, Singularity University commented, “Our association with Ashoka University has helped us in providing a platform to Indian students through the Global Impact Competition. These competitions act as a medium to identify outstanding entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and engineers with the most innovative ideas that can positively impact problems facing mankind.”

About Dalmia Bharat
Dalmia Bharat Group (www.dalmiabharat.com) is a prominent player in India’s core manufacturing sector since 1935, with a national footprint. With a turnover of over 7000 crore it has a strong presence in Cement, Sugar, Refractories and Power. A leader in specialty cements and the country’s largest producer of slag cement, Dalmia Bharat has a significant presence in generic sugar, catering to several marquee brands The Group also caters to an enduring and growing customer base in refractories and has forayed into sustainable power/energy.

About Singularity University
Singularity University (SU) is a benefit corporation headquartered at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley. SU provides educational programs, innovative partnerships and a startup accelerator to help individuals, businesses, institutions, investors, NGOs and governments understand cutting-edge technologies and how to utilize these technologies to positively impact billions of people. From its inception in 2008, SU has empowered individuals from more than 85 countries to apply exponentially growing technologies— artificial intelligence & robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology & digital fabrication, networks & computing systems and medicine & neuroscience—to address humanity’s grand challenges: education, energy, environment, food, global health, poverty, security, space and water. To learn more, visit singularityu.org

About Ashoka University
Ashoka University aims at being the benchmark institution of tertiary education in India. It seeks to fulfil the unmet needs of prospective graduates by offering an Ivy League-quality undergraduate programme, based on the US liberal education system but at a fraction of the cost. Some of its academic partners include the University of Pennsylvania (ranked among the top five universities in the world), Carleton College (ranked as the top liberal arts college for pedagogy in the US), the University of Michigan (ranked among top five public universities in the USA), and Sciences Po (ranked first in Europe for research in international relations). The university recently opened its doors to over 100 undergraduates and is located on a 25-acre campus in Rajiv Gandhi Education City in the NCR near Sonepat, Haryana. To learn more, please visit: http://www.ashoka.edu.in/