Mondialogo Engineering Awards
A joint initiative of UNESCO and Daimler (previously DaimlerChrysler), the Mondialogo Engineering Awards aims to promote dialogue among civilizations. The initiative calls on students from industrial and developing countries to work together on technical proposals addressing the UN Millennium Development Goals, particularly the eradication of poverty and the promotion of environmentally sustainable development.
Mondialogo Engineering Awards 2005:
More than 1,700 young engineers and students from 79 countries registered for the 2005 contest and formed 412 international teams. Forty project ideas, selected from 111 proposals, were short-listed in March 2005 for one of up to 20 awards totalling 300,000 euros in prize money. Assessment of the projects was based on the criteria of technical excellence, sustainability, feasibility and intercultural dialogue within the project group.
The winners were announced during an international symposium and award-giving ceremony held in Berlin in May 2005.
Among the prize-winning awards: Remote Community Field Trials of Solar Powered Water Treatment for Remote Communities in Papua New Guinea.
Mondialogo Engineering Awards (2006-2007):
Some 3,200 students of engineering sciences from 89 countries registered for the second edition of the Mondialogo Engineering Awards. In July 2007, 30 international project teams were nominated by the Mondialogo jury, and from 7-11 December representatives of these teams attended the Mondialogo Symposium in Mumbai (India), where cash prizes and honorary awards were attributed. Among the nominated teams were the following:
- Rice husk management: energy and concrete. Instituto Superior Politecnico, Jose Anotonio Echeverria, Havana (Cuba) and University of Bristol (United Kingdom);
- Economic improvement of Indian farmers by solar processing of agro-products. Mumbai University Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (India) and National University of Singapore;
- Sustainable treatment of wastewaters from garages and workshops using coconut husk and shell wastes as filter materials. PNG University of Technology, Lae (Papua New Guinea) and Michigan Technological University, Houghton (USA).
At the Mumbai Symposium itself, on 10 December, prize money (totalling 300,000 Euros) and honorary awards were presented to the winning trainee engineers.
The research team from India and Singapore was among ten teams which received the Mondialogo Engineering Award (with each team receiving 20,000 Euros).
The 'Rice husk management' project team from Cuba and the UK was one of 20 teams with 'Honorable Mention Awards' (5,000 Euros).
It is not expected that the sums awarded will cover the costs of the proposed projects. Rather, the prizes are intended for use as 'seed funding' to initiate project activity.
In addition, the research team from PNG-USA received the 'Continuation Award' (medal), in recognition of the link between the first Mondialogo Award and the second edition. The representatives of the two teams (Helen Muga and Bide Saida) participated in the first round of the Engineering Award in 2005, and have worked together again in the 2007 round. The Award rewards their initiative and perseverance in extending a sustainable dialogue and cooperation.
Mondialogo Engineering Awards 2008-2009
Information on the third round of awards (deadline for registration – 31 October 2008) is available though the multilingual Mondialogo Internet Portal.