IIT Madras team wins NY award

The team of IIT Madras comprising Vinayshankar B Kulkarni, Sriram Kalyanraman and Ashish Dattani has won New York City’s ‘Next Big Business Idea’ contest. The contest was to pitch a business idea that improves quality of life and creates jobs and continues to attract and retain talented entrepreneurs.

The team has also bagged a cash prize of $20,000 from Mayor of New York city in US, Michael Bloomberg, for the innovation they did for storage of electricity for New York City, which has interface with the grid.

Bloomberg desired that the innovative work be implemented by the Indian team in New York. He has requested them to start a company in Manhattan and has offered rent-free space for two years.

Vinayshankar’s other two teammates are in the final year in IIT Madras.

Vinayshankar B Kulkarni is a B Tech graduate from IIT Madras and has passed out in 2008 with a gold medal. He has won gold medal for his work in energy-related project. He had worked under guidance of Professor Ajit Kolar of IIT Madras.