Bangalorean wins prestigious environmental award

Peer Water Exchange (PWX), invented in 2003 by Shah, received the prestigious 2010 Intel Environment Award from The Tech Museum in association with Santa Clara University.

PWX, a project of Blue Planet Network, is a combination of process, technology platform, and people designed to unlock the global capacity and creativity of individuals, organizations, and businesses to solve global safe drinking water and sanitation crises.

"The Tech Awards is an incredible honour, recognizing the ideas and passion that fuels their execution to change the world," Shah said.

"The community needs to own the project and change behaviour appropriately so that the project succeeds," he said. The Tech Awards honours innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity.

The Tech Museum, based in San Jose, California, and Santa Clara University recognized 15 laureates this year in five categories: environment, economic development, education, equality, and health.

With a decade of experience in water and sanitation, Shah pioneered the model of PWX to solve the problem of managing thousands of projects, said a media statement issued by the Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.

More than 65 agencies have used the model, which now manages over USD 26 million in 23 countries. Shah, who received a B.S in electrical engineering from Lafayette, also completed undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and received an MS and MBA from the University of California-Santa Barbara.

He has designed his home in Bangalore to be water and energy efficient, aiming for self-sufficiency. He is also involved in designing, managing, and deploying water, sewage, treatment, and reuse projects in his community, the press statement said.