New Delhi, March 19 (IANS): The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at Jamia Millia Islamia said it will patent the winning ideas of 'Innovate For a Cause' competition.

"The ideas generated from the competition will be patented, prototyped and tested by the CIE for commercial viability," said Mini Thomas from the Department of Electrical Engineering and head of the CIE.

"The faculty and students were challenged to innovate and come up with ideas for improving the issues faced by society," Thomas added.

In the competition, held on March 18, the first prize was given to the team 'Eat-Creative' which proposed a new cooking pot (Handi), with composite material to improve the efficiency, enhance the strength and promote healthier cooking.

The second prize went to 'Sani-Tech' a new and innovative toilet design using material suited for a geographical region with an improved sewage disposal system, reducing water pollution.

A multi-purpose rickshaw, 'Innomech' conceptualized by the students with better ergonomics won the third prize.

Of the 20 teams which submitted their proposals, eight were shortlisted for the final round. The contestant pool was diverse with representation from engineering, architecture, management studies, social studies, economics and many more.

The panel of judges consisted of Sumit Dagar, founder of Kriyate, a mobile app for blind with international recognition as TED fellow, Upendra Giri, founder of ACOE Global, and Sherfur Rahman, co-founder of the e-commerce company Shopatplaces.com.