Sustainable Banana Fiber Extraction : Story telling & Learning Launch 

 Challenge : 

 We had received a research project from a Government of India Research agency and about ten   students worked as team members to carry out the project under my guidance . The aim of the project   was to undertake sustainable methods of extracting banana fiber from the outer sheaths of the banana   plants that was an agricultural waste . The existing method   of extraction was by chemical means and the   environmental pollution hazard was high in terms of water body pollution and solid left over after   chemical treatment . The agriculturalists were not educated and had been performing these activities   based on traditional chemical methods . The effort was directed to test the bio technological method of   banana fiber extraction as it was sustainable and to find out the viability and outcome in real time   situations . The plan was to explain the process and its outcomes to the farmers and to take pilot test in   selected farms before implementation on a large scale . Two weeks was allocated for the study and   another one week for testing and validation . 

 Selection : 

 The student team members had reviewed literature and they had a few brainstorming sessions about   the appropriateness of the design thinking tools and activities for the completion of the project   activities . The finally selected the story telling tool for explaining the process followed by the learning   launch tool for pretesting the new concept . 

 Application : 

 The student team   selected ‘ Villupattu ’ a traditional story telling method followed in South India where a   message or concept is conveyed to the audience in a traditional singsong manner . This tool was a special    rural folk   method   which helps in reaching out to the rural farmers in their native language . In this   method few questions will also be asked to confirm whether the essence of the concept had reached   the audience . Every aspect was dealt in a manner that the audience was involved in the script and the   message conveyed .   The script included the methodology of the new process in comparison to the old   method , the benefits of using it and the effectiveness of the process in terms of environmental   sustainability . Part of the team members was involved in the recitation of the story and the others   contributed to the background music with simple native instruments . 

 Learning Launch   included a demonstration of the process at the harvest site of the banana plantations   and 5 farms were selected to carry out the trial . The process had been taken up by the students on the   lab scale with the same raw material found in the selected farms . The end product after the chemical   and biotechnological extraction process was tested for quality , quantity , cost effectiveness and   sustainability . These tests were carried out in the college lab followed by the commercial and   Government authorized laboratories to confirm the reliability and validity of the test results . This helped   us to confirm that the process was suitable for the selected farms and the same process was to be   carried out in the actual farm environment . A biotechnologist from the Department of Bio Technology   was also included in this project to help in onsite problems . The enzymes used for the process was given 

 to them and the experiment was carried out at the harvest site of 3 neighboring farms . The extracted   banana fiber was taken for lab and commercial testing . On completion of the process the students   conducted a personal interview with the onsite personnel in their native language to verify the correct   sequence of the tasks , comfort level of the personnel in carrying out the experiment and whether the   process was suited to local conditions . 

 The second learning launch in the   remaining two farms helped to reaffirm the effectiveness of the   process and helped to check whether the farmers were able to understand and follow the instructions   which plays a vital role in the quality of the end product . The personal interviews conducted this time   included questions about understanding the new process and methodology , the results on the   environment and surroundings and the feelings of the farmers about the change . Additionally a few   stake holders were informed about the change in process and the results to carry out a few more trials   before commercialization . The two launches were completed in two weeks and a comparative study was   carried out in the next week . 

 Insight : 

 The story telling tool helped the students to reach out to the farmers and the onsite personnel in a   native folk lore method . The audience was enthralled in the method adopted to convey the message as   it was very closely connected to them .   We could understand this from their beaming smiles , affirmative   nods and their response to the indirect questions reflected during the telling of the tale . The farmers   became close to the students and treated them with the locally available beverage and fruits . The reach   of the event was evaluated during the actual implementation in the farm . 

 The learning launch helped our team to identify the basic principles & assumptions underlying the new   process and performed trials to test these assumptions . Our assumptions lead to anticipated results   ( tested in the labs ) which enabled our stake holders to have a better view about the process and the   anticipated benefits . The results also put forth some concerns on the part of the stake holders about the   process protocol in the onsite farms . Our student team will have to address these issues and be   prepared for the forthcoming launch designs . 

 Approach : 

 The student team is equipped with the knowledge and practice of many design thinking tools and   activities and the story telling tool for conveying the message followed by the learning launch seemed   the best approach to carry our project forward . The hands on experience at the site and the results of   the first two launches will help the team to incorporate the essentials for the next launch design before   the commercialization of the process . The insight gained and the lessons learnt for reiteration will help   them to come to a final protocol which enables a sustainable new process for a better tomorrow . This   experience will help them to confirm and reassure any assumption made in the design thinking process   before it is put into practice on a large scale . 

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EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Sustainable Banana Fiber Extraction : Story telling & Learning Launch 

 Challenge : 

 We had received a research project from a Government of India Research agency and about ten   students worked as team members to carry out the project under my guidance . The aim of the project   was to undertake sustainable methods of extracting banana fiber from the outer sheaths of the banana   plants that was an agricultural waste . The existing method   of extraction was by chemical means and the   environmental pollution hazard was high in terms of water body pollution and solid left over after   chemical treatment . The agriculturalists were not educated and had been performing these activities   based on traditional chemical methods . The effort was directed to test the bio technological method of   banana fiber extraction as it was sustainable and to find out the viability and outcome in real time   situations . The plan was to explain the process and its outcomes to the farmers and to take pilot test in   selected farms before implementation on a large scale . Two weeks was allocated for the study and   another one week for testing and validation . 

 Selection : 

 The student team members had reviewed literature and they had a few brainstorming sessions about   the appropriateness of the design thinking tools and activities for the completion of the project   activities . The finally selected the story telling tool for explaining the process followed by the learning   launch tool for pretesting the new concept . 

 Application : 

 The student team   selected ‘ Villupattu ’ a traditional story telling method followed in South India where a   message or concept is conveyed to the audience in a traditional singsong manner . This tool was a special    rural folk   method   which helps in reaching out to the rural farmers in their native language . In this   method few questions will also be asked to confirm whether the essence of the concept had reached   the audience . Every aspect was dealt in a manner that the audience was involved in the script and the   message conveyed .   The script included the methodology of the new process in comparison to the old   method , the benefits of using it and the effectiveness of the process in terms of environmental   sustainability . Part of the team members was involved in the recitation of the story and the others   contributed to the background music with simple native instruments . 

 Learning Launch   included a demonstration of the process at the harvest site of the banana plantations   and 5 farms were selected to carry out the trial . The process had been taken up by the students on the   lab scale with the same raw material found in the selected farms . The end product after the chemical   and biotechnological extraction process was tested for quality , quantity , cost effectiveness and   sustainability . These tests were carried out in the college lab followed by the commercial and   Government authorized laboratories to confirm the reliability and validity of the test results . This helped   us to confirm that the process was suitable for the selected farms and the same process was to be   carried out in the actual farm environment . A biotechnologist from the Department of Bio Technology   was also included in this project to help in onsite problems . The enzymes used for the process was given 

 to them and the experiment was carried out at the harvest site of 3 neighboring farms . The extracted   banana fiber was taken for lab and commercial testing . On completion of the process the students   conducted a personal interview with the onsite personnel in their native language to verify the correct   sequence of the tasks , comfort level of the personnel in carrying out the experiment and whether the   process was suited to local conditions . 

 The second learning launch in the   remaining two farms helped to reaffirm the effectiveness of the   process and helped to check whether the farmers were able to understand and follow the instructions   which plays a vital role in the quality of the end product . The personal interviews conducted this time   included questions about understanding the new process and methodology , the results on the   environment and surroundings and the feelings of the farmers about the change . Additionally a few   stake holders were informed about the change in process and the results to carry out a few more trials   before commercialization . The two launches were completed in two weeks and a comparative study was   carried out in the next week . 

 Insight : 

 The story telling tool helped the students to reach out to the farmers and the onsite personnel in a   native folk lore method . The audience was enthralled in the method adopted to convey the message as   it was very closely connected to them .   We could understand this from their beaming smiles , affirmative   nods and their response to the indirect questions reflected during the telling of the tale . The farmers   became close to the students and treated them with the locally available beverage and fruits . The reach   of the event was evaluated during the actual implementation in the farm . 

 The learning launch helped our team to identify the basic principles & assumptions underlying the new   process and performed trials to test these assumptions . Our assumptions lead to anticipated results   ( tested in the labs ) which enabled our stake holders to have a better view about the process and the   anticipated benefits . The results also put forth some concerns on the part of the stake holders about the   process protocol in the onsite farms . Our student team will have to address these issues and be   prepared for the forthcoming launch designs . 

 Approach : 

 The student team is equipped with the knowledge and practice of many design thinking tools and   activities and the story telling tool for conveying the message followed by the learning launch seemed   the best approach to carry our project forward . The hands on experience at the site and the results of   the first two launches will help the team to incorporate the essentials for the next launch design before   the commercialization of the process . The insight gained and the lessons learnt for reiteration will help   them to come to a final protocol which enables a sustainable new process for a better tomorrow . This   experience will help them to confirm and reassure any assumption made in the design thinking process   before it is put into practice on a large scale . 

 ------------------
### Output: 