Indian wins $1m for best case study
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An Indian from Pune was in the team of three that won a million dollars on April 26 in the world’s largest competition for the best case study — Hult Global Case Challenge. The team, comprising three others — Americans — was from the Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Heinz College, and won the award for their project on education titled One Laptop Per Child (OLPC).
The results were declared by former US President Bill Clinton in the presence of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Maharashtra’s Ketaki Desai, who was the one who assembled the CMU team that included Reggie Cox, Elizabeth Cullinan and Tim Kelly, said her having lived in India was one reason for her insight. “My mom is a teacher in Pune and the school does not even have access to the Internet,” she said, adding that the aim of the team was to marry 21st century technology to education.
Having won the million-dollar prize money, Ms Desai now aims to work in India, Kenya and Rwanda.
In the US, a laptop costs $1,000, which the team plans to bring down to $400 and incorporate suitable content for children aged between four and 11. “We will also create an online community for students to interact globally and rate the educational applications on the laptops,” Ms Desai added.
Two other Indians who won in the field of energy were from Abu Dhabi — Neil Parmar and Madhav Vaidyanathan — for their case study on illuminating a million African households using solar power.
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