Himalayan Consensus Summit / 2018
Khem Lakai Founder, GATE College; Jury and Mentor, Swiss-Nepal Technology Transfer Workshop 2018 EVEN THOUGH NEPALESE YOUTH ARE CAPABLE AND EMPOWERED, THE SOCIETY AND ITS NARROW MINDSET have set them back. Lack of support from the government adds to the problem. This has led to a brain drain and a mass exodus of youth. It is important to start afresh because youth are not only the future but also very much the present. The entire world will benefit and be transformed for the better if the potential and creativity of youth can be tapped into by providing them with proper support, mentorship and funding. NepSAS has been filling in these gaps by producing a pool of intrinsically motivated and qualified young people from diverse backgrounds who are
Sonika Manandhar
materializing feasible solutions to real world problems.
Winner, Swiss-Nepal Technology Transfer Workshop 2017
Ravindra Sapkota Co-founder, Everest Biotech and Shikhar Biotech; Mentor, Swiss-Nepal Technology Transfer Workshop 2018
NEPAL DOES NOT HAVE A SATELLITE OF ITS OWN and the exposure to satellite and space education is also not satisfactory. This
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THE SWISS-NEPAL TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP
is disheartening because satellites offer a
WAS WELL-ORGANIZED AND OFFERED A WIN-
myriad services, including applications in
WIN SITUATION FOR ALL THE PARTICIPANTS.
communication, mapping, revealing spatial
Commencing the first-ever biotech company in
patterns and mitigating risks related to
Nepal had its own hindrances. Firstly, no one
disasters. To address this gap, I joined the
was willing to sign an approval as they did not
team led by Rakesh Chandra Prajapati,
understand the concept and the products that we
Founder of ORION Space, in 2018 and we
were making i.e. polyclonal antibodies. Secondly,
are now building the country’s first ever
there was not much support from the government
satellite, PocketQube Satellite, through local
and it was tedious getting an approval to smallest
resources. The engineering design of the
of issues. However, with time, this has changes and
satellite will be ready in about three months
biotechnology is not considered a young field anymore in Nepal. Our major challenge now is to
and the launch will take place towards the
continually innovate and progress in this field.
end of 2019.