Young innovators push wheels of social change

Diptanshu Malviya, 15-year-old, was agonised to see elderly rag pickers at a small railway station in Pindwara, Rajasthan. But it gave him an idea too. “Why not make a vacuum cleaner that can pick wrappers easily,” Malviya enthusiastically tells Metrolife. “My brother and I decided to make such a machine. My father helped in bringing the equipments from Ahmedabad and my grandfather, a mechanical engineer suggested a design for it.”

And, it was this innovation, ‘Wrapper Picker’, that gave Malviya an opportunity to stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan under the ‘In-Residence Scheme for Writers/Artists/Innovators’. The wrapper picker is a motorised device, which automatically picks up littered pieces of wrappers, papers, pouches, etc. and collects them in a storage bin. Selected via National Innovation Foundation-India, Malviya says, “The foundation helped in technical modulations in the machine so that it can be used for commercial purpose in the coming time. After all, the machine can be a key player in Swachh Bharat Mission,” says Malviya.  

Likewise, Chennai-based Priyanka Mathikshara, a Class 11 student has made a garbage bin, ‘Super Stocker 3C’, that will automatically send a message to nearest dump yard when filled. “The system works at three levels -- trash crushing, level communication and street light. The machine compresses the trash, increasing the capacity of the bin. Since, in our country, garbage is collected only once in 24 hours, this machine will directly send an automated message to the nearby dump yard to empty the bin,” explains Mathikshara, who is also one of the selected innovators at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“To the bin is attached the street light which runs on solar energy and a closed-circuit television camera too,” she adds. “If this machine isbrought into function at local level, the problem of insanitary conditions will be sorted out. Some basic technology can bring about a drastic change.”

Fourteen-year-old Sarthak Shukla of Ghaziabad has created a refrigerator with rotatable trays, for easy access of the items kept at the back. “The refrigerator is cylindrical and comprises a refrigeration unit, a cylindrical base and a mechanism for rotatable tray. The idea came into my mind when I saw my mother complaining about the difficulty she faces in accessing things kept in the refrigerator,” says Shukla. He shared the idea with the National Innovation Foundation who helped Shukla in creating the technology that could bring change in electronic section. “Right now, I am working on the compressor which has to be placed on top of the fridge because if it is at the base there won’t be cooling,” he explains.

Much older to these kids, Vikas Karade, PhD scholar and innovator, has developed an X-rayTo3D, a patented technology at OrthoCAD Lab in Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. It automatically generates a 3D model of a human bone from its X-ray images. }|

“3D visualisation of a patient’s bone helps surgeons in more accurate diagnosis and surgery planning as compared to X-ray images alone. This method also overcomes two major drawbacks of 3D model reconstruction from CT scanning, which is associated with higher cost and radiation exposure,” says Karade.

He has made this technology apt for tablet, via Tabplan 3D, a mobile tablet-based software application for 3D planning of knee replacement. “It will introduce surgeons to tablet-based surgery,” he says.

While Anand TS, a PhD scholar at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Prosthetic, has developed a prosthetic knee for uneven terrain. “It takes into account dual needs of stability and greater floor clearance to prevent stumbling on uneven surfaces. We have already begun the trials with the help of hospitals,”
informs Anand.