Awarding innovation

UltraTech announces the winners of 'Mera Gaon Mera Base' competition which was designed to urge young builders to build bigger, better, faster and cheaper structures. UltraTech Cement's 'Mera Gaon Mera Base' competition successfully culminated into a grand finale on 18th July, 2013 at Trident, BKC in Mumbai. The event was a part of the company's 'Innovate for India' initiative and was designed to urge young builders to build bigger, better, faster and cheaper structures. The nationwide contest reached over 2,000 students and 800 colleges across India. Recognising the need for real innovations and responsible design initiatives towards India's villages, the participants were allowed to stay for a period of seven days in a village of their choice. During their stay, they identified an engineering or building problem and subsequently generated innovative solutions to address the issues. An eminent jury shortlisted the top 20 entries and in the final stages of the competition, these entries were exhibited in Delhi and Bengaluru. All the concepts were applauded and appreciated by hundreds of professionals and students. Glittering event The grand finale event commenced with words of encouragement and inspiration by AK Jain, Technical advisor at UltraTech Cement. The evening celebrated the participation of young engineering and architecture students in India, the keynote speakers included the distinguished likes of Chhavi Rajawat, the Sarpanch of Soda village; Architect Revathi Kamath, Founder Principal of Kamath Design Studio; Architect and Urban Planner Rahul Mehrotra, Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Harvard GSD and Principal of RMA Associates; and evangelist Zarina Mehta of Swades Foundation. Creative recognitions The awards were given away by V Suresh (Director of HIRCO), SN Jajoo (CMO of UltraTech), architects Sameep Padora (Founder and Principal of Sameep Padora & Associates), Nuru Karim (Founder and Principal of NU DE Architects) and Pinkish Shah (Founder and Principal of Shilpa+Pinkish Shah Architects). In the architecture category, the first position was won by Hrishikesh More from Sir JJ College of Architecture in Mumbai. The second position was awarded to Bhanu Kharbanda, Shweta Jain and Ekta Kapoor from MBS School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi and the third position was won by Vishal Sonigra, Mayur Chavan and Ashish Barshikar from Padmabhushan Dr Vasantdada Patil College of Architecture in Pune. Additionally, other students such as Vishal Thakur, Jignesh Sanghvi, Ektaa Chhadva of Viva College of Architecture in Mumbai received an honourable mention. In the engineering category, the first position was won by Ved Prakash Singh of Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal. The second position to M Pradeep Kumar, Nanda Kumar, Raj Kishor Sah from PSNA College of Engineering & Technology in Dindigul and the third position was won by Devkinandan Prajapati, Ankit Dubey, Ankit Kabra from Mahakal Institute of Technology in Ujjain. The evening ended on a high note as a fitting conclusion to UltraTech's enriching and rewarding endeavour that will continue to ignite young minds for years to come. (Communication by the management of the company)