Each year, teams from across the globe compete in our “Shark Tank-style” innovation competition, the I-Prize. And while only a few are selected to receive the incubation funding to further develop their ideas, each team pushes innovation forward within themselves, their businesses and the company as a whole.  

With nearly a decade of experience in new product development engineering—with a specialty in valving and showering—Lokesh Mohanpuri brought a strong skillset and plenty of passion to the 2019 I-Prize competition. Despite not winning the funding to move forward, the experience taught him some unique lessons that have shaped his day-to-day work. 

“My favorite parts of my job are brainstorming, benchmarking and ideation, so the I-Prize really appealed to me,” said Lokesh. “It was a way for me to work within the valving and showering category that I manage, while proposing a new solution to benefit water conservation. It really encouraged me to think beyond our normal scope of work.”

“The judges recognized that our idea had merit, but determined that it required more processing, insight and market testing to develop a business case,” he explained. “Their feedback was incredibly valuable not just for our I-Prize project but also in my role in new product development.”

Lokesh also gained a lot from engaging with other teams at the finals. 

“The experience helped me to see outside of just engineering, into marketing, sales and product design,” he added. “Learning about everyone’s ideas was very inspiring and showcased the broad perspectives necessary to develop a successful product—perspectives I’ve been able to apply far beyond the I-Prize competition.”