Georgia Tech students see business opportunity in Vietnam, cleaner brick kilns - Atlanta Journal Constitution

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The environmental and health issues facing Vietnam's rural brick-making industry likely are of little concern to most college students, or just about anyone else in Atlanta. But a team of Georgia Tech students has taken on the problem and developed a solution they hope to turn into a profitable business with a social good.

Mekong Green Tech wants to clean up brick-making operations across Asia by using a simple, low-cost technology. Rural industries in developing nations often burn waste biomass, a dirty process that emits carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Brick kilns are one of the main offenders, and Vietnam is cracking down on the industry. Mekong Green Tech developed a gasifier to cut emissions; it can be used with existing kilns.

Unlike some student-launched businesses, Mekong Green is well beyond the concept stage, with a demonstration model of its gasifier in use in Vietnam. Interest among local brick makers is high, team members said.

The business recently won first prize in Georgia Tech's Ideas to SERVE Competition for innovative business concepts that can help society or the environment. And this week, Mekong Green is in the Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston, where 42 finalist teams (out of 400 entrants) are competing for more than $1 million in prizes and the chance to attract investors.

Mekong Green started with Marc-Antoine Pare, a 2010 graduate, who did his senior design project on gasification in cooking stoves in Nicaragua. After graduation, he moved to Vietnam to work on the stove project when he saw a bigger problem with brick kilns. There are more than 100,000 brick kilns across Asia, the team said, citing Brick by Brick, a report on Asia's brick industry.

"He said this is a much bigger opportunity," said Chris Quintero, a mechanical engineering senior and team member.

The technology also has applications beyond brick making,  he said.

Quintero and fellow team member Hannah Kates plan to move to Vietnam as well after graduation, joining Pare.

"They're so impressive," said Alan Flury, director of the Business Plan Competition. "It's a team that's thoroughly committed."

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Georgia Tech students see business opportunity in Vietnam, cleaner brick kilns - Atlanta Journal Constitution

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The environmental and health issues facing Vietnam's rural brick-making industry likely are of little concern to most college students, or just about anyone else in Atlanta. But a team of Georgia Tech students has taken on the problem and developed a solution they hope to turn into a profitable business with a social good.

Mekong Green Tech wants to clean up brick-making operations across Asia by using a simple, low-cost technology. Rural industries in developing nations often burn waste biomass, a dirty process that emits carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Brick kilns are one of the main offenders, and Vietnam is cracking down on the industry. Mekong Green Tech developed a gasifier to cut emissions; it can be used with existing kilns.

Unlike some student-launched businesses, Mekong Green is well beyond the concept stage, with a demonstration model of its gasifier in use in Vietnam. Interest among local brick makers is high, team members said.

The business recently won first prize in Georgia Tech's Ideas to SERVE Competition for innovative business concepts that can help society or the environment. And this week, Mekong Green is in the Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston, where 42 finalist teams (out of 400 entrants) are competing for more than $1 million in prizes and the chance to attract investors.

Mekong Green started with Marc-Antoine Pare, a 2010 graduate, who did his senior design project on gasification in cooking stoves in Nicaragua. After graduation, he moved to Vietnam to work on the stove project when he saw a bigger problem with brick kilns. There are more than 100,000 brick kilns across Asia, the team said, citing Brick by Brick, a report on Asia's brick industry.

"He said this is a much bigger opportunity," said Chris Quintero, a mechanical engineering senior and team member.

The technology also has applications beyond brick making,  he said.

Quintero and fellow team member Hannah Kates plan to move to Vietnam as well after graduation, joining Pare.

"They're so impressive," said Alan Flury, director of the Business Plan Competition. "It's a team that's thoroughly committed."

View the original article here

Businesses ready for bold action - Atlanta Journal Constitution

By Chris Clark

For nearly 100 years, the Georgia Chamber has partnered with elected leaders to identify and implement policies that will grow our state’s economy, foster job creation and ensure a high quality of life.

This collaboration between the business community and government has resulted in a state that ranks consistently as one of the best to do business. Thanks to the vision and leadership of Gov. Nathan Deal, it will continue to do so into the future.

One of the governor’s first actions in office was the creation of the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative — a public-private effort to update and enhance our state’s economic development strategy. Our chamber was proud to be asked to co-chair this initiative with the Georgia Department of Economic Development. We had an opportunity to listen to and learn from thousands of business leaders what they believed were the keys to economic revitalization.

As we traveled to each of the state’s economic development districts, we examined opportunities and challenges in the areas most important to business. We learned a great deal.

We heard that although Georgia boasts some of the nation’s best research institutions and technical training programs, there is still a lot of work to do at the k-12 level, and that sometimes the curriculum offered is not necessarily meeting the needs of today’s employers.

We heard that small businesses and entrepreneurs are not always getting the support they need to be successful, that businesses often feel overburdened by regulatory and tax policies that are no longer in line with today’s economy, and that the state’s economic incentive structure needs revision in order to put us on an even playing field with other states.

We heard that all Georgians — no matter what part of the state they are in — understand the need for connectivity to our ports, airports and to other regions.

In fact, many participants indicated that they were willing to support the regional transportation referendum on the ballot this year. That shows an understanding of the transformative impact passage will have on their communities, and that there is no other funding option available for transportation improvements.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we heard that, as it has throughout our state’s history, Georgia’s business community is ready to take bold action and do the hard work — alongside our elected officials — to get our economy going again.

Without question, the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative achieved what was intended. The governor has already shared a number of legislative proposals resulting from this effort, each of which directly address the issues raised during the process. Some will have an immediate impact on our state’s ability to attract new jobs and investments.

In particular, we encourage the General Assembly to agree to the governor’s proposal to remove the sales tax on energy used for manufacturing, mining and agriculture.

Each of these industries plays a significant role in our state’s economy and has potential for growth. We cannot afford to lose that opportunity as a result of being the only state that still taxes an unavoidable business input.

As important as any immediate actions will be a continued focus on the future, a long-term commitment to improving and refining Georgia’s economic development strategy and tools so that we stay ahead of, not just in line with, our competition. There is no reason why our state cannot continue to be one of the very best in which to do business.

The Georgia Chamber looks forward to continuing to work with Deal and other elected leaders to achieve that goal.

Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, is co-chairman of the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative.

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Saudi women make best use of Atlanta Forum

(MENAFN - Arab News) The participation by highly competent and professional Saudi women certainly contributed to the success of the "US Saudi Business Opportunities Forum" held in Atlanta from Dec. 5 to 7, 2011. The forum was organized by the Saudi Committee for International Trade (CIT), US-Saudi Arabian Business Council and Saudi-US Trade Group in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry and US Commercial Service.

Not many people outside our borders are aware of the existence of exceptional women in Saudi Arabia so the presence of such qualified women was a great surprise to a lot of attendees at the forum.

The keynote speech was delivered by Lubna Al-Olayan with great eloquence. In her opening remarks, she brilliantly summarized the geopolitical challenges that the US and Saudi Arabia face today and gave an optimistic view of the future cooperation between the two countries. Lubna Olayan is a highly experienced financial leader and globally known. She is the CEO of Olayan Company, a private multinational enterprise. She was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and sits on many boards and councils because of her extensive experience and expertise in corporate finance, international banking, distribution and manufacturing.

Her sister Hutham Olayan moderated the session on opportunities for finance and investment with equal professionalism. Hutham leads the Olayan Group's activities in the Americas and has been elected to the board of directors of Morgan Stanley. She leads an organization that manages a diversified portfolio of US public and private equities and real estate based in New York. She is a founding member of the Arab Bankers Association of North America, a trustee of the conference board and a board member of the Institute for International Economics.

Dr. Hanan Balkhy, executive director for infection control at the National Guard Hospital moderated the panel of health and medical services. She represented the Saudi doctors well known in the field of medical research and health care.

Dr. Salwa Alhazaa, professor of ophthalmology at Alfaisal University, and head and consultant of ophthalmology, senior clinical scientist and consultant in genetics at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, gave an informative presentation in the panel discussing," building the health care sector through innovation and technology." Her logic and research findings impressed the audience.

Dr. Alhazaa also participated in the outreach program to foster better relations with the American women in business. The participants included outstanding Saudi women in the field of architecture, finance and accounting, information and technology, and entrepreneurship. Samra Alkuwaiz, a financial expert and lecturer at King Saud University is a board member and partner of Osool Capital in Riyadh. She has often been named among the most influential women in the region's financial industry. Alkuwaiz has encouraged many Saudi women to participate in finance, play the stock market and build portfolios.

Nadya Bakhurji founded her own architectural consultancy company, Riwaq. This was the first company to be owned by a woman. It is registered under the Saudi Council of Engineers. She is also the first Saudi woman to become a board member of the Saudi Council of Engineers and has campaigned for the recognition of Saudi female architects and engineers in Saudi Arabia.

Nouf Alrakan is CEO of Alimtiaz Alamthal trading company specializing in IT solutions, clothing and food products. She has also established a new company representing the oil and gas industry in the Kingdom and embarked on setting up a manufacturing facility. Khadija Koshak leads a successful business in fashion design. She joined the program with her aspiring daughter currently studying communication in the US. Together they presented a bright picture of two generations of educated and well-accomplished Saudi women.

The outreach initiative was one of the highlights of the Atlanta Forum where some of the most dynamic American female executives and entrepreneurs met with the delegation of professional Saudi women in a round table discussion aimed at promoting women in global business. In an open and frank dialogue, the Saudi women discussed issues concerning their negative image in the international community and projected an accurate picture of Saudi women. Saudi women, they said, have their own hopes and aspire to contribute to the progress and development of their society.

The forum concluded with a commitment to recognize the great potential of Saudi career women and to explore new business opportunities between the two countries.

At the end of the session, the hosts offered the Saudi delegation membership in the International Women's Forum, (IWF), a global organization where leading women of the world are united in a network to promote better world leadership with new ideas and perspectives to make our world a better place. With great enthusiasm the Saudi women welcomed the opportunity to gain experience from the IWF to better serve their governments, corporations and academic institutions.

The Saudi women felt it is time they came out of their isolation and became global partners contributing to intercultural understanding, peace and global prosperity. It is hoped that this dialogue would be the beginning of a long-term relationship between the American and Saudi women business community.

The CIT should be commended for their brave initiative to include a delegation of accomplished Saudi women in "the US- Saudi Business Opportunities Forum." No doubt, the presence of highly qualified women had a strong impact and contributed to the success of the forum.

We too should sponsor more of these events to erase the Western misconceptions of Saudi women and encourage our capable women to excel and participate in global events to showcase their capabilities and willingness to contribute and develop the planet around them.

By SAMAR FATANY

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