Dr Revel Iyer awarded joint runner up in the annual Newton Fund video competition

Dr Revel Iyer, from Research Contracts and Innovation, recently took part in the annual Newton Fund video competition run by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The competition was limited to Leaders in Innovation Fellows and required Fellows to highlight how they have demonstrated leadership in engineering in the developing world. A requirement for the video was that it should not exceed 90 seconds.

Dr Iyer produced a whiteboard animation style video demonstrating the effect of his drought tolerance technology and the potential it had for changing the lives of people in the developing world. Briefly, the technology involves genetic modification of crops using genetic material sourced from the resurrection plant, Xerophyta viscosa, which was obtained from Cathedral Peak in the Drakensberg Mountain. The technology has been successfully demonstrated in tobacco and will over the next five years be evaluated in a commercial crop system, maize, in conjunction with a south African seed company, Klein Karoo Seed Marketing. The development of the technology will be funded by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).

Dr Revel Iyer was a shortlisted finalist in the Newton Fund video competition and was subsequently invited to the Institute of Engineering and Technology in London. Here the video was showcased to conference participants on the opening day of CAETS 2016: Engineering a Better World, a major conference organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The conference was held on 12-16 September.  The conference was about strengthening the engineering profession in the developing world. Dr Iyer was specifically invited to attend this day as a champion of engineering and innovation within his own country.

Dr Iyer was eventually placed as joint runner up in the competition, with the overall winner coming from Mexico.