ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT LEBAKA MANASA, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras | Chennai, India | Advancing SDG 11, SDG 12 & UNAI 9
" My passion for sustainability been driving everything I do. As a civil engineering student, I've actively engaged in campus initiatives that promote environmental awareness and sustainable practices. Being part of the Millennium Fellowship will amplify my ability to design impactful projects aligned with the SDGs, especially in sustainable cities and communities. I'm excited to learn from a global network of change makers, strengthen my leadership skills, and create solutions that merge engineering innovation with social equity. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Optimization of Biogas Generation from Food Waste
Our project aims to establish an integrated anaerobic digestion system to convert food
waste from IIT Madras messes into clean biogas for campus cooking fuel. By
transforming waste into energy, we tackle both waste management and sustainable
energy challenges on campus. The system will address two major barriers—odor
control (via sealed digester design and gas treatment systems) and low-pressure
biogas usability (via purification and compression technologies to meet cooking-grade
standards).
Beyond energy, the project ensures circular resource use: the nutrient-rich digestate generated will be repurposed as an organic biofertilizer for campus landscaping. IoT-based monitoring will enhance process efficiency, stability, and scalability, ensuring this model can be replicated across campuses and communities.
Goals of this project:
1. Do a thorough literature review on existing technologies on biogas generation.
2.Waste-to-Energy Impact: Make the system into some capable of diverting at least 1 ton of mess food waste per month into anaerobic digestion.
2. Biogas Production: Generate and store sufficient biogas to fuel one hostel mess
kitchen burner daily as a pilot.
3. Odor & Pressure Optimization: Implement sealed digester design and a biogas
purification–compression unit to deliver usable cooking-grade fuel.
4. Digital Monitoring: Deploy IoT sensors for real-time monitoring of methane yield, pH, and volatile solids reduction.
About the Millennium Fellow
Manasa Lebaka is a bright and passionate third-year B.Tech Civil Engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, dedicated to advancing sustainability and women’s empowerment. She has been actively involved in numerous sustainability initiatives and campus-wide events, creating awareness and inspiring collective action toward environmental responsibility. Her commitment to positive change stems from a deep belief in the power of education, innovation, and community engagement. Manasa aspires to pursue a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, focusing on sustainability, where she can develop impactful solutions to global environmental challenges and contribute meaningfully to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
