E Week Yatra Stories
Algae-rithm!
SMK Fomra Institute of Technology, Chennai
Feb 9, 4.00 pm
A ‘Zero Budget E Week’ is what the NEN E Cell at SMK Fomra Institute of Technology has set out to do this week. So what do they do? Establish partnerships, raise sponsorship and…depend on algae for a potential campus company.
The E Cell has joined hands with DG Vaishnav College and a research company called Oilgae to explore avenues for algae cultivation in a pond inside the DG Vaishnav campus.
Algae harvesting is a new field, pointed out SMK Fomra’s NEN Faculty Leader S Chandramouli. There are 30,000 forms of Algae. Some strains can be used for water purification; protein rich algae can be used as protein supplements and fish feed. It can also be used for medicinal purposes where it is priced at Rs 1250/kg. Researchers are also exploring the possibility of using algae as bio-fuels.
But why Algae? “Who knew there could be so many business opportunities in Algae. One can cultivate Algae at zero cost as it’s all a work of nature. Look at Chennai – there are enough algae-infested ponds. We want to use this to our advantage and make our project a commercial venture,” said Parikshit, NEN E Leader at the SMK Fomra E Cell.
