The Merrill J. Fernando Innovation Awards – ECOVATION – first occurred in 2016, searching for to encourage sensible or scientific innovation amongst youth, ladies and men in academia or any subject, in designing artistic and impactful options to our most pressing ecological points. The award ceremony for Ecovation 2021 was held on March 31, 2022 at the Dilmah Tea head-office premises. The included an exhibition showcasing the Top 10 eco-innovations from the competitors with the goal of motivating the innovators and galvanizing patrons to think about sustainable and eco-friendly options to the issues we face at the moment.
Representing the eminent panel of judges, the occasion was graced by Prof. Ilmi Hewajulige, Additional Director General of R&D at ITI, Ms. Pathma Abeykoon, Operational Focal Point Biodiversity Secretariat, Ministry of Environment, whereas Ms. Shiranee Yasaratne, Advisor, Biodiversity Sri Lanka joined the festivities by way of Zoom. Other members of the panel included, Prof. Ajith de Alwis, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Moratuwa, Mr. Jeevan Gnanam, CEO of SAKS Global, and Ms. Savera Weerasinghe, Founder of Ananta Sustainables.
“Understanding that the traditional ‘take-make-dispose’ culture has had devastating impacts on people and planet; eco-innovations ideally address these environmental and social problems, among others, and upgrade the means used to tackle these issues. ECOVATION Awards 2021 sort out eco-innovative ideas and prototypes under the theme “Circular Economy for a Sustainable Future” and centered particularly on sustainable packaging, useful resource effectivity, and waste administration,” a information launch on the occasion mentioned.
“The winner of ECOVATION 2021 was the innovator-duo Professor Rangika Halwatura and Himahansi Galkanda, affiliated to the University of Moratuwa, who created an eco-friendly wall-putty out of waste alum sludge. In addition to being honoured as winner of Ecovation 2021 with the Merrill J Fernando Innovation Awards 2021 trophy, the duo acquired a money prize of Rs 750,000. “
In second place was Sudhara Jayakody, additionally affiliated to the University of Moratuwa, along with his Eco Crumbler – “earthworm pet home” – an answer devised to assist metropolis dwellers take care of accumulating family meals waste. Chosen in third place was Gamini Priyantha Alexander, from Nature’s Paper (Pvt) Ltd, a formidable eco-entrepreneur, who has been creating eco-friendly packaging alternate options out of paper waste and agricultural waste as properly as invasive vegetation.
The second place and third place winners acquired money prizes of Rs. 500,000 and Rs. 250,000 respectively. The remaining prime 10 had been additionally awarded with money prizes of Rs 50,000 every in direction of their persevering with eco innovation journey.
“The Merrill J. Fernando Innovation Awards aspires eco-innovators to showcase their product, and acts as house for knowledge-sharing and progress. Going past the boundaries of a conventional competitors, ECOVATION seeks to work carefully with the successful innovators to adapt and scale-up to go well with the present market wants. Furthermore, the successful innovators will likely be offered authorized assist to guard the mental property rights of the respective eco-innovators, the launch mentioned.
It defined that this version of the awards noticed 64 aspiring eco-innovators sending of their eco-friendly concepts and prototypes. These eco-innovations had been then scored on their innovativeness, however most significantly on adaptability, scalability and practicality. After thorough screening by the judges, the Top 16 eco-innovators got the alternative of interacting carefully with the panel to enhance their ideas and prototypes.
As the panel included groundbreakers from varied disciplines and fields; these eco-innovators had been supplied with invaluable suggestions, constructive criticism and insightful solutions on how you can higher their eco-innovations, in the areas of fabric sourcing, manufacturing, design, advertising, budgeting, financing and scaling-up. The candidates had been then allowed a interval of two months to use related solutions and additional strengthen their improvements, after which they made their ultimate shows to the identical panel, the launch mentioned.
“Ecovation will evolve in 2022 into a component of Dilmah’s Genesis Project, an initiative to promote the importance of building back better with Nature-based Solutions (NbS), for the welfare of people, reducing inequality and strengthening climate resilience through sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship. Like ECOVATION, that is a platform for innovators to connect and interact with corporates and government institutions, the Genesis Project will act as a platform for various stakeholders and institutes to network and lobby for various purposes that benefit people and planet,” it concluded.