Inspiration
31 inventions that will convince you of the intellectual prowess of India
The IGNITE awards organised by NIF in collaboration with CBSE and other boards saw an overwhelming participation by schools across India. The shortlisted 31 entries show remarkable maturity and understanding towards local unsolved needs.
That Indians are the masters of jugaad is by now a known fact and the subject of atleast 3 books including 1 by IIM Ahmedabad. So adept is the Indian brain in Jugaad that we can match and even outperform anyone in the world when it comes to solving problems creatively, frugally and sustainably.
To encourage creative thinking in the Indian milieu, the National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF) set up by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has been actively engaged in promoting creativity and innovation.
NIF in association with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Society for Research and Initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), various State Education Boards and other partners invited ideas for inventions from school students across India under the IGNITE 2015 competition.
In fact, in honour of Dr. Kalam who passed away this year, NIF decided to rename the IGNITE awards as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards from 2015 onwards so that creative children continue to draw inspiration from his spirit. 31 winning ideas have been shortlisted from 28,106 submissions that were received from every state & UT of India between 1 September, 2014 and 31 August, 2015!
Let’s look at some of the inventions by school children. While going through the list we found that they are simply brilliant. They are so wonderful mainly because they're so simple! When we read about them, all we could keep saying to ourselves was – now why didn't I think of this idea?
1. Water filter/purifier at source
Idea by: Soring Lepcha, Class 4, and Subash Prodhan, Class 5
School: Lingzya Junior High School
State: Sikkim
Instead of making an investment in purchasing a filter/purifier in every home, Soring and Subash have given the idea of putting a filter/purifier at the source of water so that everyone has access to clean water. This filter can be centralised (i.e. at the point of distribution like water tank) or can be attached to public taps.
2. Hand rest for fractured hand
Idea by: Adi Kumar, Class 5
School: Deens Academy
State: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Wearing a shoulder arm-sling can be clumsy and painful for the neck as well since the sling hangs around it! Adi came up with the idea to create a support that can be worn around your waist to provide support to the fractured hand. Your broken arm would no longer be a pain in the neck – literally!
3. Umbrella for more than five persons
Idea by: Tarna Joy, Class 6
School: Kabi Guro Rabindra Nath Smiti
State: Dhalai, Tripura
An average umbrella can protect one person or two, especially when it is raining heavily. Tarna has invented an umbrella that has to be held by 2 children at both its ends while 3 more children can stand in the middle and walk to school together – without getting drenched!
4. Alerting system for bus drivers
Idea by: Pradyumna Kumar Pal, Class 7
School: Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir, Unit-3
State: Khordha, Orissa
Idea by: Rahul Kumar, Class 9
School: Rajkiya Balak Uchh Vidyalaya
State: Patna, Bihar
Great minds think alike! A boy in Bihar and another in Orissa came up with the same idea, independently – a system that will alert the bus driver to know which passenger has put his hand or head outside the bus window. This can help avoid many accidents.
5. Reversible benches at public places
Idea by: Simran Chadha, Class 8
School: BCM Arya Public School
State: Ludhiana, Punjab
Simran’s idea is to have reversible benches at public places so that if you find them wet or dirty, you can just rotate a handle to allow the other side to come up – now sit on a clean and dry bench!
6. Solar seeder
Idea by: Subash Chandra Bose, Class 8
School: St. Sebasthiyar Matriculation School
State: Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu
This young boy has created a seed drill which can plant different sizes of seeds at variable depth while maintaining varying space between two seeds. The best part about this drill – it is powered by the sun!
7. Looms for physically challenged
Idea by: R. Elakkiya, Class 6 and R. Pavithra, Class 9
School: SRC Memorial Matriculation
State: Erode, Tamil Nadu
Those with physical disability in their legs can now operate a loom (machine that weaves cloth) thanks to a modification in the traditional loom by two sisters from the city of Erode in Tamil Nadu. They have replaced the pedal operated system with a motor and a gearbox attached to a pulley mechanism.
With over 28,000 entries coming in, we can rest assured that the future of creative thinking in India is in safe hands. Even if you look closely at all the 31 winning entries you will notice that all these solutions are very simple in nature and yet they solve a problem. In other words, these ideas have all the hallmarks of an invention – simplicity, ease of access and solving a problem.
To look at the complete list of 31 ideas, click here.