Indian finalist at CISCO contest
By Resmi Jaimon

CISCO, with the largest share of the global network equipment market, earned revenues of $11 Billion for the 3 months ending May, 2010 which was  25 % higher than 2009. The Cisco I-Prize, worth $250K, is an open, global competition where anyone can submit ideas for Cisco’s next business success. Techgoss interviewed Sanjith Yeruva who has made it to the finals of this contest.

The Cisco I-Prize is in its last stage with 9 teams making it to the final cut.  Cisco boss John Chambers will announce the winner on June 29, 2010.  The winner will receive a grand prize of $250,000. More than 2800 contestants participated with the Cisco judging panel selecting 9 final teams comprising 31 people from 14 countries. 

Only one Indian, Sanjith Yeruva, has made the final cut. i3 Collective, the team led by Sanjith Yeruva, has come up with Uknow which is a universal knowledge platform for the education sector.

Techgoss (TG):  Tell us about your education background and work experience?
Sanjith Yeruva (SY):  I did my schooling in my home state, Andhra Pradesh, and Masters in Life sciences from Devi Ahilya University, Indore. After completing my Masters, worked in a Biotech Company (Virchow) in Hyderabad for a year before moving to South Korea in pursuit of a Ph.D.  Three years into the programme, I dropped out to move to US to enroll in a Ph.D programme in University of North Dakota. A year later history repeated itself, and I became a not so famous double drop out. Three years ago, a visit to University of Wisconsin–Madison during a beautiful summer gave me the enjoyable opportunity to work on protein biochemistry, where I continue to work as a research specialist.

TG:  Share with us briefly about the idea you submitted to the CISCO contest. What motivated you? How did you come up with the idea?
SY: This idea is borne out of a simple question. Why should a student have to spend enormous time searching for relevant information rather than involving in a learning process?  Why can’t a student have the opportunity to access information in a specific area from multiple universities on a single platform? Why there isn’t any platform where video content is organized in a meaning full fashion. From a simple question sprang an idea, which over a few months of persistent efforts evolved, into what it is today.

The idea is Uknow – Universal knowledge platform.   Uknow is a knowledge platform where information is provided in a creative and responsible manner for the lifelong learners of the 21st century.  Using video as a mode of learning, UKNOW transforms the educational landscape with innovative content deposition, intelligent search and interrogative quiz based content for an informed learning. Uknow brings in a variety of software and hardware innovations that would enable faculty and students to create, share and learn educational content globally. UKnow aims to reinvent education, as we know today.           

TG:  Are you part of a team that worked out the idea for CISCO? The CISCO website says US and Philippines are also represented in your category?
SY:  While I am the idea founder, Robert Dziekan (USA), Atul Kumar (India) and Benjamin Intal (Philippines) are represented as team members on Uknow as well.

TG:  Now that you have made it to the final and gained international attention, have you been approached by VCs and other companies to work with your idea?
SY:  No. But I am humbled to receive few emails from individuals seeking suggestions or expressing interest to work with me though.

TG:  Is this the first time you have done so well in such a prestigious international contest?
SY:  I -prize is certainly the biggest contest I have ever participated in. I did have some success in other platforms winning three contests at innocentive.com (2008, 2010) and one in Atizo.com (2009) besides being a finalist in Wipro-Wharton business contest (2010). So I guess I have set some neural activity aside for contests.

TG:  What kind of preparations did you go through to participate in the contest?
SY:   Given the nature of such contests, it was important for the idea to be visible and to stand out among hundreds of other ideas.   Much of my efforts were on doing background research, creating content and videos, and showcasing the idea to generate interest in it. More traffic on the idea page translates to suggestions and criticism, which helped in evolving the idea. Once Uknow was selected for semifinals, the team was expanded to include two members from Asia. In preparation for the finals, we really had to coordinate our times to interact often-sacrificing sleep and weekends.  These efforts continued until our final presentation.

TG:  What advice do you have for those who would like to take part in such international contests?
SY:  To begin with, one has to have clarity on the contest theme and rules.  Once you step in with your idea, be persistent in your efforts. Be open to criticism and welcome different perspectives to perfect your idea.   Attack your own idea from a third party perspective to look for weakness and areas where you can strengthen it. International contests also bring in brightest minds across the globe and interacting with them could be enriching yourself and enhancing your idea as well.

You can be very passionate about your idea and fiercely compete but at the end of day it’s important to really enjoy the experience. For then you will be a winner come what may.

TG:  What are your future plans?
SY:   With the confidence I gained during the I-prize contest, I hope to continue developing some of my other ideas that did not make it into the finals of I-prize contest. The distance between inspiration and idea is short, but from idea to innovation it’s unfathomable. With persistent efforts, I hope I would be able to complete this life cycle one day.