Dear All,

Hope you are well and thank you for your interest in the Shah Lab’s seed grant awards.

We received close to 120 expressions of interest from across campus to the 20 incredible problem statements that our NGO collaborators submitted. Each problem statement was scored on the parameters mentioned on our website, by our steering committee. The final selection was made by combining the assessment score and the expression of interests.

After a careful deliberation, we have chosen 15 problem statements to move to the next phase. Please see the selected Problem statements and submitting organizations below.

Next Steps:

• Shah Lab will connect with the selected NGOs and the faculty who expressed interest in the abovementioned problem statements to organize and facilitate discussions.
• These discussion webinars will be a forum for the faculty and NGO representatives to develop a deeper understanding of the problem and co-develop solution proposal to be submitted by early March.

Congratulations to the selected NGOs!

We will be in touch with further information in early Jan. Wish you all a good break and here’s to hoping for a better 2021.

Selected Problem statements
These would be considered for full or partial seed grant awards

Problem # 1: Building a solution that performs environmental assessments to identify asthma triggers in the home by virtually walking through an individual’s home.

By Bronx Community Health Network -  Bronx, NY, USA

Problem #2: Anemia affects a large proportion of the population in Myanmar, but reducing anemia rates effectively remains difficult without understanding the actual causes of anemia in country.

By World Concern Development Organization – Myanmar

Problem #3: Antiquated reimbursement models are promoting over use of the hospital and limit access to Primary and Specialty care.

By Empress Mobile Integrated Health - Bronx, NY, USA

Problem #4: Prevention of women cancer and early detection.

By Aaroogya Foundation – India

Problem #5: Need for low cost solutions for food storage and transportation in Bangladesh

By World Concern Development Organization - Bangladesh

Problem #7: The Fall Army Worm outbreak continues to ravage farms in South Sudan and its effects are projected to significantly affect cereal production in the Country.

By World Concern Development Organization - South Sudan

Problem #10: Women and smallholder ginger farmers suffer loss in productivity and profitability due to lack of access to locally appropriate, low-cost, and effective ginger storage options.

By Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – Nepal

Problem #13 : Technology for receiving weather forecast / information at the village / micro level for the small and marginal farmers

By Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – India

Problem #15: Due to the taboos and period stigma, challenges around menstrual hygiene management (MHM) presents an ongoing challenge to the basic health, wellbeing and educational opportunities for girls. Girl friendly solutions are needed.

By Plan International USA – India

Problem #16: Technology that would allow farmers to take decision for irrigating the land

Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – India

Problem #18: Technology that would support salt farmers in Surendranagar and Patan District to know the water level in the land for digging well for salt farming

By Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – India

Problem #19: Technology for Water De-fluoridation Pumping System (low cost / solar) for tribal community members of Dungarpur, Rajasthan

By Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – India

Selected problems for Design Category

We will explore an opportunity to either combine this with other problem statements or consider this as a design project for students to create a solution working under the supervision of faculty advisor and with the NGO partners.

Problem #6: Need for low cost and low maintenance seed drill technology for small and marginal farmers, suitable for small landholdings (of less than 0.5 ha) and uneven lands.

By Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – India

Problem #8: Sesame seed harvesting and subsequent oil production in South Sudan is limited due to inefficient manual oil extraction processes, as well as the lack of agricultural infrastructure, technical expertise, and a stable local market for seed and oil sales.

By Ayiidit Agricultural Cooperative Society (AACS) Limited - South Sudan

Problem #14: In Senegal, electricity is sporadic - this impedes the ability of adolescent girls, with limited access to economic resources, to study at night and to digital literacy.

By Plan International USA- Senegal, West Africa

Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions at this point.

Thanks

Pallavi

__________________________

Kind Regards,

Pallavi Gupta

Program Director

Shah Family Global Innovation Lab

Global Engineering Programs and Partnerships

Office: 765-496-7311 | gupta604@purdue.edu