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1 January 2011(Minneapolis / Bangalore) - A team of students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and the University of Minnesota won the Acara Challenge 2010 in May last year. The Acara Challenge focuses on creating businesses that address critical community problems of underserved populations in India. The team – operating under the business name BioServ – developed an affordable, weekly maintenance program for previously-installed biogas units in the community. Since respiratory illness through cooking is the eighth leading cause of death in India, the program aims to reduce indoor air pollution while also providing jobs to maintenance workers in small towns throughout India.

“In India, hundreds of thousands of biogas generators have been installed for home use,” said Judd Eder, chemical engineering student at the University of Minnesota. “Most of the units are not being used due to maintenance issues that are easily solvable, so we’re hopeful that our business can have a real and lasting impact.” The BioServ team traveled to India in June to conduct further research. The team then returned to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment for an on-campus incubation period during which time they worked with a commercialization team to refine and launch their business.

“Clean energy, water and food security are global issues that need local, practical business solutions,” said Julian Marshall, co-director of the Acara Institute and faculty advisor to the team. “It’s such a pleasure working with motivated students and industry partners on a project that has potential for real impact.”

In addition to BioServ’s victory in the clean energy category, the Acara Challenge awarded the top prize in the clean water group to the team from the University of Illinois, Chicago / Vellore Institute of Technology. Their business – JAL Water for Life – aims to establish a water purification and distribution company that uses a single-basin solar still along with a basic ultraviolet system to desalinate and purify 100,000 liters of water a day.

Twenty five teams of students from India and the United States competed in this year’s challenge. “Our expansion from three schools in the first year to thirteen for this upcoming challenge this year indicates how strongly motivated students are when it comes to solving pressing environment issues with real business solutions” said Fred Rose, CEO of the Acara Institute. “Our industry partners and mentors also played a critical role in supporting the teams in this year’s challenge.”

‘’Mentors play a crucial role in the process and success of a university team in the Acara challenge. They guide the teams through various aspects of design thinking and commercialization process. Mentors provide business and/or engineering expertise to teams throughout the challenge and often, help to launch the business as well. They may be working professionals from corporations, non-profit organizations, universities or entrepreneurs. We are currently seeking mentors for the Acara Challenge '11, especially business consultants and entrepreneurs from the water, food and agriculture industries . Just go to www.acarainstitute.org and sign-up for our mentor program. Acara will pair you up with your choice of university, provide training and other resources.” said Sarabjeet Singh, India Manager for Acara Institute.

About Acara InstituteAcara Institute's mission is to develop sustainable business solutions that address global societal challenges.We believe that successful solutions to difficult and hard-to- define problems are unlikely to emerge from a single person or organization. Acara is therefore dedicated to bringing together a collection of talents, minds and resources represented by diverse teams from academia and industry to collaboratively explore business concepts and implement sustainable solutions.

Contacts:

Sarabjeet Singh, Acara Institute India

Email: sarabjeet.singh@acarainstitute.orgPhone: +91 99872 08108

For more information on the Acara Institute and the Acara Challenge 2011, please visit: http://acarainstitute.org/.