The eight teams of engineering students presented wonderful and imaginative ways to help save the world, one idea at a time. Ideas were presented at the final of Al Gore’s Sustainable Technology Business Competition recently at IIT-Madras, and I was fortunate to be one of the judges.

All the submissions in the contest were remarkable. One was from a team at IIT-Kharagpur who suggested better ways to desalinate seawater, a very welcome idea as much of the world faces water shortages, now or in the future.

Another idea, presented by a team from the University of Sastra, Thanjavur, suggested a new means of capturing carbon from industrial exhaust gases to create relatively inexpensive industrial-grade carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

This could be important for a number of reasons, I learned. For one thing, it could significantly reduce carbon emissions from industrial furnaces.

On the other hand, we need new and better ways to produce CNT; Its unique molecular structure provides both resistance and chemical capabilities that are paving the way for advances in nanotechnology, optics, electronics, architecture, and other fields that affect our quality of daily life.

“We can produce carbon nanotubes at a fraction of current international prices,” one of the Sastra University students told the judges.

The contest was the result of initiatives led by Prof. Oopali Operajita, senior advisor to several Indian parliamentarians. The unique feature of this contest, unlike other tech startup contests, is that 33% of the ratings were for sustainability parameters.

Another clever idea was a design that took advantage of gravity and buoyancy to improve the efficiency of power generation. This could apply to mini power plants operating at the community level. Another early-stage idea was a new approach to producing algae-based biofuels, a cheap and efficient energy source for the future.

The judges, many of us venture capitalists, chatted over lunch and agreed that several of these budding tech entrepreneurs would end up at major consulting firms and banks, trading their dreams for a comfortable job at a multinational.

Even the few who managed to resist this temptation and actually create a startup might not have the skills and experience to successfully run a business. What they need is a combination of entrepreneurial enthusiasm and dynamism with a handful of experience and maturity, which Eric Schmidt brought to Google.

At the end of the competition, I was encouraged by the talent base in the country, as well as the ability of these young people to generate new ideas.

The universities themselves have created funds for entrepreneurship and innovation in which many of these young people were able to raise up to Rs. 10 lakes as seed seed funding. There are also a number of Indian and international competitions that provide them with a platform to submit and test their ideas.

This is an excellent starting point. What we need most is a Silicon Valley-like ecosystem, where these young people can access both mentors and executive talent. They will need angels to support them, financially and administratively, to polish their ideas and turn them into viable business opportunities.

We have some angel networks like the Angels of Mumbai and the Angels of Chennai, but we need many more people to contribute time and money to develop these ideas. Even if only some of these companies take off, they can create a significant difference not only for India but for the world.

Share your own ideas on how to promote innovative companies in this country (by the way, the idea of ​​carbon nanotubes won first place and desalination was second).