Students brainstorm to come up with innovative ways to check air pollution

The

Consulate General

of the United States in Kolkata and a private college from Bhubaneswar joined hands to organise Air-o-Thon — a brainstorming session by more than 60 young and innovative minds from across eastern India to come up with solutions to tackle air pollution.

The students were more than happy to be a part of the event. “It feels really good to be finally back to the classroom and projects. The past two years have been challenging and online classes are not exactly my cup of tea,’ said

Om Sandilya

, one of the participants. Besides showcasing their ideas and models, the youngsters enjoyed the seamless discussions and light interactions.

As part of the competition, the participants were asked to come up with solutions to curb indoor and outdoor air pollution within 48 hours. The 60 participants, divided into 20 groups, did exactly that. After two days of almost constant brainstorming, they presented their models to the jury members. Out of the 20, five models were adjudged the best.

What’s special about the initiative is that unlike most grassroots and student innovations, which do not go beyond the prototype phase for various reasons, the organisers aim to turn these ideas into reality.

American Center

, Kolkata, director

Adrian Pratt

said, “We will mentor the top ideas and teams and try to make sure that they can be used in real life. They will be provided 360-degree support from us.”

Speaking about the success of the Air-O-Thon event,

Gloria Berbena

, Counselor for Public Affairs,

US Embassy

, New Delhi, said, “Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats and the

US Consulate

in Kolkata has supported environmental diplomacy and advocacy in the local community. I am heartened to see the number of creative ideas which have been generated in such a short amount of time over the last two days.”