In a city like Chennai, riding a two-wheeler during the day might make you wish you were carrying a fan. At Sukoon, that’s what a young man designed: a jacket with fans to keep the rider cool. The company already has a purchase order from the city-based companies. Phalgun Vyas, who graduated with an M.Tech in Data Science and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the institute, developed the jacket.
How did he come up with the idea? “Actually, it was at the hostel here. We used to rush to the library because it is extremely hot in the hostel. We talked about how we could keep cool with a fan on us,” said Mr. Vyas from Pune.
Prototype developed in two months
The group interviewed 15 segments including mothers, traffic police officers and workshop workers in industries. They got a chance when a company asked them to come up with a prototype. “Due to the heat, the productivity of the workers is affected,” the company said. In two months, the team developed the prototype,” said Mr. Vyas. The jacket has battery powered fans inside, near the waist area.
For Easwar V., seeing his grandparents working in the field was the trigger to come up with a new machine for planting rice seedlings. A B.Tech in Engineering Design and M.Tech in Electrical Vehicles, Easwar and his team developed a machine that will plant saplings on one hectare in two days. He was also driven by the difficulty of finding workers to do the job.
Sensors are placed along the edge of the field and the machine comes through. His startup, Krishaka, is testing the equipment in rice fields in Chengalpattu. “We started with groundnut harvesting, but it is a seasonal crop and rice is planted more extensively. So we chose paddy,” he explains.
Sai Gowtham Tamminaina, co-founder and chief technical officer of Seat of Joy, has designed a seat for children aged three to six years for use on two-wheelers. The seat can function as a storage box when not in use. The product is priced at INR 3,000 to 5,000. Isn’t that a bit steep? No, he says, pointing out that a similar product for cars costs INR 10,000 to 12,000. In addition, the product serves another purpose. The seat is already being used by a professor in the department itself.
Fuel pellets for hilly terrain
Kokilavani R. and Nishanthini T., PhD researchers from the National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh, have developed a briquette maker better suited for hilly terrains. Mrs. Kokilavani works with waste management. The women have developed a mobile unit to produce fuel pellets from agricultural waste, which are moisture resistant and easily transportable. “The durability of the commercial product is not good, as the pellets collect moisture during transport, especially in the hilly areas. Our quality is in accordance with the ISO standards,” says Ms. Nishanthini.
On September 27, Sudha and Shankar’s Innovation Hub at IIT was full of students explaining their unusual ideas and products. Some of the products were in commercialization mode. There were almost 30 interesting start-ups. There was one on water meters in apartment complexes and another on buying gold.
How much support the students’ ideas get from the institute was evident at the inauguration of Nirmaan Day, as the event was called. Principal V. Kamakoti urged industry representatives to place a purchase order of “at least 10 lakh” to motivate the students.
Released – 13 October 2024 at 22.09 IST