KARACHI Novel ideas with traces of business opportunities were presented in Pakistan's first entrepreneurial challenge in Karachi.

Several commercially viable ideas from 13 universities were submitted, from which five were short listed and three were awarded cash prizes at the “IBA Invent” challenge.

Students across Pakistan presented commercial projects based on research, development and market needs. Students presented innovative ideas about custom made furniture; community based mushroom cultivation and marketing, desalination tanks for agriculture, wireless charger for small devices and electricity back up systems.

After a panel of judges reviewed the proposals, workable, innovative and commercially feasible projects were awarded cash prizes.

A handheld power backup device, “UJALA”, invented by NED university students receieved a cash award of Rs.5 lakhs. Students from LUMS got a second prize of Rs.3 lakhs for “SHAFAAF”, a project meant to desalinate water for irrigation. “Khoombi” a strategy for community based cultivation and marketing devised by FAST, Lahore, was awarded the third prize of Rs.2.5 lakhs

The Dean and Director of IBA, Dr Ishrat Husain, said that knowledge-based services were the future of Pakistan.

Referring to research-based companies, he said that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created 4,000 companies based on R&D, which sold products worth $250 billion. He urged the same strategy for Pakistan.

He also said that IBA would host another such competition in 2011 as well.

The challenge, hosted by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), was sponsored by various commercial companies.