Industrial Automation Magazine India

Entrepreneurs from India are Regional Winners by Hardware-led Social Innovation Accelerator

Published on : Thursday 06-05-2021

Innovations in Sustainable Battery Technology, Accessible Prosthetics, and Womens Hygiene Win $30,000 (USD) and Technical Support at 2021 ASME ISHOW India Virtual Event.

New York, May 5, 2021 – The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has announced the regional winners of the 2021 ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW), the prestigious international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation. Eight finalist teams of social innovators from throughout India presented their design prototypes in a virtual event held April 27-29. Three entrepreneurs emerged as regional winners who will share $30,000(USD) in seed grants and receive technical support to help bring their design innovations to market. They were announced earlier today in a virtual awards ceremony that featured keynote remarks by Ramana Gogula, vice president of clean technology innovation for Stanley Black & Decker. 

The 2021 ASME ISHOW India winners are:

·         Life and Limb (P) Ltd (Delhi, India) for its "Bionicli" innovation – a functional prosthetic hand with six grip patterns to assist wearers with more than 15% of daily living activities

·         Offgrid Energy Labs (Kanpur, India) for its "ZincGel® Battery" – efficient, temperature stable, safe, and sustainable battery technology with longer life than current lithium-ion technology, ideal for stationary (renewable, grid, backup) and low-powered mobile applications

·         PadCare Labs (Pune, India) for its "PadCare Sanitary Napkin Disposal and Recycling System" – a hygiene management solution that completes the loop of the menstrual hygiene economy by generating environmentally safe, recyclable output out of soiled pads.

"Social enterprises, now more than ever, need the support of the global impact community. Our hearts go out to those ISHOW India participants and their families who have been impacted personally by the current surge of the pandemic in their country," says Iana Aranda, director of ASME's Engineering Global Development sector that houses ISHOW. "Social entrepreneurs across the world, including many ISHOW ventures, are on the frontlines of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and advancement of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. We are fiercely focused on providing these innovators with accessible platforms for capacity building, expert engagement and co-design of scaling strategies suited for the new normal. Ensuring their success through this global crisis is of paramount importance."

In addition to the three grand prize winners, the product with the most votes in social media for each regional event is named the "Fan Favorite,'' and receives $1,000 (USD). The fan favorite prize is made possible and in memory of Byron G. Schieber Jr. M.S., PE, Professor Emeritus QCCNY, and Ruth L. Schieber. The 2021 ISHOW India "Fan Favorite" winner is PadCare Labs.

More information on the ISHOW India 2021 finalists can be found on the ASME ISHOW website. Virtual ISHOWs will be held for finalists from Africa (ISHOW Kenya), June 1-3, and for the Americas (ISHOW USA), July 13-15.

"We are proud to offer a forum for engineering problem-solving that truly improves lives," said ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile. "We are continually impressed by the creative talent of ASME ISHOW participants and their passion for helping underserved communities around the world."