ace mas or an wearers

to pitch and win first p lace in the Monash SEED [ ncubator program," said Monish.

T he progra1n is des igned to en1power students wi th initiative, drive and ideas to lead positive change. It a ims to provide guidance to stre ngthen social entrepreneurship both as a skill set and a state of n1ind.

While on the SEED journey, the students realise d that regular tnasks posed problems also for people wearing glasses or using hearing aids. They added seal flaps that trap the air within the n1ask itself reducing fog in glasses.

Social 111edia, lnstagra1n and word of mouth propelled Ekta's cause.

" Reaching out to our target market has helped," said Anika. "Winning the SEED program helped in pro1notion and we also won third place in the Monash Validator Program where we were pitched against 92 other start-ups. That provided great traction as well."

Ekta is looking to team up with Caringbush Adult Education, an organisation that teaches English to asylum seekers, to make the masks.

" l t will make a posit ive impact in the lives of these asylu1n seekers as they get to learn

English as well as acquire job skills and make an inco1ne," claimed Monish. "Many of our buyers appreciate that."

One of their first clients, Gurmeet Singh agrees it makes a world of difference to have masks that do not need to be looped around the ears.

"They are easier to wear and remove around my turban and save time when I need to leave home to wo r k, exercise or shop," he told Indian Link. "The fact that they are ecofriendly - and provide gainful employment to d isadvantaged communities - adds to the appeal."

The Ekta mask project has utilised the disruption of mai-ket created by COY I D-19 to create meaningful change. It aligns with Ekta's overall vision to provide eco-friendly healthcare products and services while creati n g employment opportunities and skills to diverse co1nmunities of r efugees and asylum seekers.

I ts three like-minded student founders, all from South Asian backgrounds, belong to a generation comn1itted to using entrepreneurship as a means to put purpose into socially d r iven projects.

"Gr owing up our parents would always rom arr ivin g in Melbourne as a n international student at the age of 17 to now being r ecognised by Australia's leading science awards, Su1neet WaJia has had a whirlwind career in the scie nces.

Now, he has been sho rt listed as an e me r ging leader in scien ce at the Au s tralian Museum Eureka Priz es 2020, c on sidered the ' O scars' of Au stralian science.

"C ong r atulat ion s an d well wishes hav e been pouring in," be tol d Indian Link. " This nomination has been in the works for a couple of years I t's not just about research, but also the ways we enable other scientists and lead t h e fiel d fo rward. " emphasise the phrase Anekta rnein ekta (unity in diversity) and this became our missio n," explained Monish.

Moving forward, the enterprising trio w ish to make healthcare accessib le to ove rlooke d communities by designing a c u rriculum specifica lly for them.

" O ften there is mistrust towards western 1nedicine amongst ce r tain communities that have been secluded or isolated and we want to bridge that gap and make h ealth infor mation easily and safely accessible to them. ~rhls is Ekta's Long term goal," concluded Ayesha.

With a background in e lect roni c eng in ee ring a nd inte r est innanomat erial s, his research looks at light-matter int eraction, materials manipulation and sca lable mate rials sy nthes is, among other aspects.

Most recently, Sumeet Walla and hi s team have develo ped t he world 's first, and thinnest, photode tecto r that can see the full sp ectrum of light.

"Photodetectors convert information carried by light into an electrical signal and are found in many technologies today, including medical imaging , 1notion detectors and gaming co nsoles ," he explained. "Electronics have evolved a lot in the la st few years. Pro cess ors are decreasing in size