Ricoh Corporation presented two high school students with the Ricoh Sustainable Development Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) 2006 presented by Agilent Technologies during a special awards ceremony in Indianapolis on Thursday night. The students will share a $50,000 scholarship from Ricoh Corporation.
The two students who tied for the top honor at the ceremony were Dhanur Damodar from Dupont Manual Magnet High School in Louisville, Kentucky who won for his research on polyacrylamide (PAM) as an effective synthetic soil binder and Pieter Christiaan Berning Luyt from the Harriston School in Free State, South Africa who received the award for his project on sustainable methods of electricity generation for rural communities.
“At Ricoh we are committed to pursuing technological excellence while preserving our environment, so our participation at Intel ISEF is about engaging future business leaders in this critical mission,” said Michael W. Sarasin, Director, Corporate Quality Assurance and Environmental Management Division, Ricoh Corporation. “Dhamur and Pieter‘s projects were the most outstanding out of a very competitive group of students at this year’s Intel ISEF because they showed sound business judgment and concern for the environment. The possible application of their projects in communities will be of benefit to the world in years to come.”
A team of 15 judges comprised of engineers, scientists, business professionals and educators reviewed entries among all the general award categories to determine the winner of the Ricoh Sustainable Development Award. The winning entries this year contained the principles and technical innovations that were deemed most likely to foment environmentally-friendly practices and social responsibility among businesses.
The Intel ISEF is the world’s largest pre-college celebration of science and is held every year in May. Intel ISEF brings together over 1,500 students from around the world to compete for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, and scientific field trips. This year’s event was held at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, from Sunday, May 7 – Friday, May 12. During a week of stimulating discourse on issues of technology and social responsibility, the attendees’ attention was focused on the special award’s night where the most outstanding projects in the show would be honored.
About Ricoh Corporation
Ricoh Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 70-year-old leading supplier of office automation equipment and electronics, with fiscal year 2005 sales in excess of $17 billion, a 5.6 percent increase over the previous year.
Ricoh Corporation is a leading provider of document solutions. Ricoh’s fully integrated hardware and software products help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents. Ricoh’s line of document management devices include, color and black & white digital imaging systems, facsimile products, printers, scanners, digital duplicators and wide format engineering systems. Additionally, Ricoh offers a wide variety of document and printing solutions directly and through strategic alliances enhancing office productivity and document workflow. Ricoh’s document management software enhances workgroup collaboration and offers secure storage, retrieval and sharing of critical information.
Ricoh Corporation directly or through its subsidiaries markets and distributes products in North, Central and South America. For fiscal year 2005, Ricoh Corporation sales exceeded $3 billion, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year.
Information about Ricoh's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.ricoh-usa.com.
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Editor’s Note:
What is Sustainable Development?
Sustainable Development refers to development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. It focuses on economic development that goes hand-in-hand with ecological and social integrity. Sustainable Development is less of a program and more of a multifaceted approach to managing our environmental, economic, and social resources for the long term. In simplest terms, it means adding some new considerations to our everyday decisions. In business, it means triple bottom line reporting, melding the financial health of a company with its social and environmental responsibilities.
