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• www.grandchallenges.org

• Six Indian Projects Named Tech Awards Laureates

Renewable Energy - ways to scavenge micro amounts of energy from the environment (NOT using solar photovoltaic) - target between 100 mW to 1 Watt. Systems could be used for powering cell phones, laptops, embedded systems, LED lights, others.

Inexpensive, eco-friendly ways to pump water - since pumping water is one of the costliest uses of electricity.

Coconut opening machine - to open coconuts safely and without injury.

Low cost ways to purify water - a large portion of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water.

Eco-friendly replacements for wood as fuel - the use of wood as fuel leads to large amount of earth-friendly trees being cut down and large amounts of indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Innovative Energy Storage Systems - Advanced and low-cost energy storage is an enabler for more portable and efficient electronics systems.

Innovative uses of recycled or waste materials - e.g. for housing and construction materials or other useful products, which can be developed from waste materials, reducing the amount of raw materials required to make the same.

Innovative medical devices/systems (especially low cost systems or systems that provide a healthcare advantage).

Innovative applications of Embedded Systems and Wireless Sensor Networks - (especially applications that can lead to a significant saving of energy, reduce pollution, or provide any other benefit to society.)

Any devices which reduce global warming, by consuming less power or creating less pollution.

Come up with a technique to rank websites based on their adherence to privacy policies.

College textbooks are expensive. Create a nationwide e-commerce site that gives students the option to rent textbooks or buy both new and used textbooks. The service should also let students sell textbooks to the site and get the best money for the books. Textbooks are required for students usually for 3 months (1 quarter) or for a maximum of 1 year. Most students tend to maintain their textbooks well and therefore can be used by other students. Recently two very successful start ups were founded in the US to solve this problem and they are functioning extremely well.

Snapdeal is a very successful Indian e-commerce site which is similar to Groupon. However, if someone purchases from Snapdeal is unable to use it within the expiry date, they should be able to sell it to someone else. Create an e-commerce site where people can sell their Snapdeal coupons - it is essentially a secondary market for Snapdeal coupons.