MSc SELECT Graduate wins CH.A.N.G.E. Award

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology has announced the winners of the 2013 CH.A.N.G.E. Awards, with a graduate at MSc SELECT winning the prize for the KIC InnoEnergy category.

Eduardo Appleyard received recognition for his project ‘Solar Lighting for Africa’, which aims to sell one million lights throughout Africa and bring low-cost, clean energy to the developing regions of the continent. The project will be implemented in collaboration with Solar Aid, a charity specialising in clean affordable solar product distribution.

The idea was developed as part of the prestigious Hult Prize 2012 competition, where Appleyard and his team had to propose a way for SolarAid to implement their products in Africa. With assistance from the KIC, the winner built an inclusive business ecosystem in partnership with a large African financial institution (Equity Bank), ICT innovators and SolarAid’s social enterprise (SunnyMoney) to provide African customers with a credit solution specifically designed for the purchase of portable solar lanterns.

Appleyard said: “The EIT, and in particular KIC InnoEnergy, has allowed me to grow as a professional over the last three years by providing financial support and access to top quality business training and mentoring at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.”

MSc SELECT programme director, Thomas Nordgreen, added: “The MSc programmes within the KIC InnoEnergy Master School have the unique feature of combining education in technically advanced systems with training in entrepreneurship and innovation. The awarded prize is a good example of a prosperous concept.”

The winners were selected from a group of 17 nominees. Awards were also given to Kate Hofman for the ‘GrowUp’ project under the Climate-KIC category, and Dorottya Maksay for the ‘Homebuddy’ project under the EIT ICT Labs category.