Help Complete my Masters Dream
Donation protected
Hello everyone, my name is Gaurav Visvanathan and I am from India. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Management and Engineering of Environment and Energy in Europe.
Before I continue any further, I'd like to share a small personal story,
WHY AM I HERE?
On 21st November 2011, I was returning from class in Calcutta, India. I remember stopping at a tiny shop and buying a few things to eat. Right below the shop I noticed some smoke coming out and when I bent down I noticed a lady, barely crouching, cooking food over a wood fired stove and coughing profusely because of the toxic fumes that she was inhaling. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen and witnessing this at such an impressionable age, it had a great impact on my life.
Coal & wood fired stoves being used in India
Researching further, I found that almost 140,000 Indian villages out of 586,000 were not electrified. A staggering population of 625 million do not have access to modern cooking fuels and utilize traditional fuels like biomass, causing severe health problems. Facing the grunt of this problem are women and children who bear this burden. These numbers were astounding and made me think of what exactly we were achieving as an economy, if we cannot even provide basic services like electricity and health care to a major populace of our country.
From this point on, I knew the path I wanted to take and knew I needed to help these people in need.
WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED?
Following this, I pursued my Bachelors in Mechanical engineering in Bangalore, India. During my course, not only did I have the highest grades in the entire mechanical department but I also volunteered for teaching underprivileged children for two years, worked on afforestation campaigns throughout Bangalore and worked on a carbon neutral conference through the Melton Foundation- an intercultural organization that works on solving global problems.
Me at a recycling plant visit during the carbon Neutral conference
Also, to increase my reach and accomplish something tangible, I designed a solar refrigerator for storing vaccines for rural areas for my thesis in my final year. As reported by the WHO, more than 60% of the vaccines get spoiled due to improper temperature conditions in rural areas and lack of electricity, to prevent this my team and I succesfully built a solar refrigerator to be used in rural areas and hence prolong the life span of the vaccines.
Me testing the solar refrigerator in Bangalore
MY DREAM
Knowing that I wanted to pursue energy engineering, I found the one course I really really wanted. The course is a Joint European Masters in Management and Energy engineering which selects only 30 students from around the world (Link to my Masters Course) . There are 4 study tracks available and only 12 seats are available out of the 30 people who get selected for Option 1-A (Madrid, Nantes, Stockholm). It is a course I absolutely fell in love with, it had exactly everything I wanted and I was sure I would get in, get the scholarship and achieve what I had to achieve.
A picture of Royal Institute of Sweden (KTH)
So, I applied, I got in the programme, I even managed to get the study track with only 12 seats BUT unfortunately, I didn’t get that scholarship. I decided I still had to go because I didn’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity and somehow thanks to my awesome parents, we managed to pay the first half of the fees amounting to 9000€. To add to that I had to survive in Europe which I try and manage with as less money as possible each month and next semester (this Sept), I move to Stockholm where the cost of accomodation is about 500€/month and on top of that the food cost is extremely high as well. Since I am not allowed to work during the course, as the Masters is a full-time study course, it is even harder to manage the money.
WHY THIS COURSE??
Well I chose this course because of two main reasons,
firstly, this course offers a dual degree, one in Management and the other in Energy Engineering. The management courses which I undertook in Spain in 2015, gave me the necessary skills to come up with new fresh ideas for start-ups and the ability to manage a company. Starting from marketing to corporate starategy, the course was so well balanced that it provided me with the necessary base to go back to India and invest in my ideas to build a business and reach out to the people in rural areas.
A picture of me during my Spain Semester, loved every second of it
Secondly, the diversity this course has to offer. Not only in terms of my subjects which range from waste water management to utilizing renewable energy BUT also the intercultural exposure it brings with it. Studying with students from 17 different nationalities, looking at things from a whole new perspective and building strong relations gives you a new range of ideas that can be implemented in your own country.
END GOAL
India is the sixth largest electricity producer and consumer, however it still only constitutes an electrification rate of 44%. So, with the knowledge I will gain from this course with a mixture of technical expertise, I will utilize these skills to design similar products such as the solar refrigerator to power homes via a new concept called micro-power. It utilizes smaller power generating tools such as a micro-wind turbine and solar lights or LED's that work on temperature difference in each and every house or a very close-by location to power homes. I will develop these products to help people in India and I need your help to do it.
WHAT I NEED?
Now the deadline for the second half of the course fees of 9000 € is this September 2016 and I do not have the money with me to complete my education at present. If I cannot pay, I will have to drop out from the Masters half way and not be able to affect the lives of these people in India who live in energy poverty.
YOUR ROLE...
This is where this entire community and YOU come in, I need YOUR help, no matter how small the amount, to help me achieve my goal.
Through you, I will be able make a huge difference in the lives of these people. I will help the women and children who face the grunt of energy poverty everyday in their homes and be able to serve a higher purpose in life.
Whether its a penny, 1 $, 5$ or 100$, I thank each one of you and I thank you for being a part of this to help make a positive change in the lives of these people.
I need all the help I can get to reach this goal and I would be so grateful to you if you could keep sharing this and help me reach one step closer to my goal!!!
To conclude, I would just like to thank my family for making this dream even possible and for their constant support throughout my life.
I thank you for taking the time to read this and helping me out, I will keep everyone posted with my results and progress.
Thank you! Gracias!! Merci !!! Dankeschön!!!!
Before I continue any further, I'd like to share a small personal story,
WHY AM I HERE?
On 21st November 2011, I was returning from class in Calcutta, India. I remember stopping at a tiny shop and buying a few things to eat. Right below the shop I noticed some smoke coming out and when I bent down I noticed a lady, barely crouching, cooking food over a wood fired stove and coughing profusely because of the toxic fumes that she was inhaling. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen and witnessing this at such an impressionable age, it had a great impact on my life.
Coal & wood fired stoves being used in India
Researching further, I found that almost 140,000 Indian villages out of 586,000 were not electrified. A staggering population of 625 million do not have access to modern cooking fuels and utilize traditional fuels like biomass, causing severe health problems. Facing the grunt of this problem are women and children who bear this burden. These numbers were astounding and made me think of what exactly we were achieving as an economy, if we cannot even provide basic services like electricity and health care to a major populace of our country.
From this point on, I knew the path I wanted to take and knew I needed to help these people in need.
WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED?
Following this, I pursued my Bachelors in Mechanical engineering in Bangalore, India. During my course, not only did I have the highest grades in the entire mechanical department but I also volunteered for teaching underprivileged children for two years, worked on afforestation campaigns throughout Bangalore and worked on a carbon neutral conference through the Melton Foundation- an intercultural organization that works on solving global problems.
Me at a recycling plant visit during the carbon Neutral conference
Also, to increase my reach and accomplish something tangible, I designed a solar refrigerator for storing vaccines for rural areas for my thesis in my final year. As reported by the WHO, more than 60% of the vaccines get spoiled due to improper temperature conditions in rural areas and lack of electricity, to prevent this my team and I succesfully built a solar refrigerator to be used in rural areas and hence prolong the life span of the vaccines.
Me testing the solar refrigerator in Bangalore
MY DREAM
Knowing that I wanted to pursue energy engineering, I found the one course I really really wanted. The course is a Joint European Masters in Management and Energy engineering which selects only 30 students from around the world (Link to my Masters Course) . There are 4 study tracks available and only 12 seats are available out of the 30 people who get selected for Option 1-A (Madrid, Nantes, Stockholm). It is a course I absolutely fell in love with, it had exactly everything I wanted and I was sure I would get in, get the scholarship and achieve what I had to achieve.
A picture of Royal Institute of Sweden (KTH)
So, I applied, I got in the programme, I even managed to get the study track with only 12 seats BUT unfortunately, I didn’t get that scholarship. I decided I still had to go because I didn’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity and somehow thanks to my awesome parents, we managed to pay the first half of the fees amounting to 9000€. To add to that I had to survive in Europe which I try and manage with as less money as possible each month and next semester (this Sept), I move to Stockholm where the cost of accomodation is about 500€/month and on top of that the food cost is extremely high as well. Since I am not allowed to work during the course, as the Masters is a full-time study course, it is even harder to manage the money.
WHY THIS COURSE??
Well I chose this course because of two main reasons,
firstly, this course offers a dual degree, one in Management and the other in Energy Engineering. The management courses which I undertook in Spain in 2015, gave me the necessary skills to come up with new fresh ideas for start-ups and the ability to manage a company. Starting from marketing to corporate starategy, the course was so well balanced that it provided me with the necessary base to go back to India and invest in my ideas to build a business and reach out to the people in rural areas.
A picture of me during my Spain Semester, loved every second of it
Secondly, the diversity this course has to offer. Not only in terms of my subjects which range from waste water management to utilizing renewable energy BUT also the intercultural exposure it brings with it. Studying with students from 17 different nationalities, looking at things from a whole new perspective and building strong relations gives you a new range of ideas that can be implemented in your own country.
END GOAL
India is the sixth largest electricity producer and consumer, however it still only constitutes an electrification rate of 44%. So, with the knowledge I will gain from this course with a mixture of technical expertise, I will utilize these skills to design similar products such as the solar refrigerator to power homes via a new concept called micro-power. It utilizes smaller power generating tools such as a micro-wind turbine and solar lights or LED's that work on temperature difference in each and every house or a very close-by location to power homes. I will develop these products to help people in India and I need your help to do it.
WHAT I NEED?
Now the deadline for the second half of the course fees of 9000 € is this September 2016 and I do not have the money with me to complete my education at present. If I cannot pay, I will have to drop out from the Masters half way and not be able to affect the lives of these people in India who live in energy poverty.
YOUR ROLE...
This is where this entire community and YOU come in, I need YOUR help, no matter how small the amount, to help me achieve my goal.
Through you, I will be able make a huge difference in the lives of these people. I will help the women and children who face the grunt of energy poverty everyday in their homes and be able to serve a higher purpose in life.
Whether its a penny, 1 $, 5$ or 100$, I thank each one of you and I thank you for being a part of this to help make a positive change in the lives of these people.
I need all the help I can get to reach this goal and I would be so grateful to you if you could keep sharing this and help me reach one step closer to my goal!!!
To conclude, I would just like to thank my family for making this dream even possible and for their constant support throughout my life.
I thank you for taking the time to read this and helping me out, I will keep everyone posted with my results and progress.
Thank you! Gracias!! Merci !!! Dankeschön!!!!
Organizer
Gaurav Visvanathan
Organizer
