Innovation

The idea was envisioned by V. Srinivasa Chakravarthy, who is a faculty at Computational Neuroscience lab of Department of Biotechnology, three years ago.

While the body of the pen is built from plantain leaf, papaya leaf stem, coconut leaf and castor stem, a nib is fixed at one end of the stem. The other end is sealed using maida starch which holds the ink.

The idea took inception as a design solution for the workers at the factory of Deki Electronics in Uttar Pradesh, where scorching heat released from the Genset at the entrance in the external area of the factory, was taking a toll on the health of the employees and reducing productivity.

Padgilwar Corporation successfully innovated a small-scale rice mill that can be transported easily from village to village, and run on basic electricity.

A simple thought or idea for an innovative product can lead to wide-scale transformation.

Mohan said that a male labourer is paid Rs 400-450 daily in the district. Small and marginal farmers cannot afford this, and neither can they afford to have bullocks and maintain them.

The brainchild of Electrofoodies, a group of final-year engineering students from Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) of Manipal University, Karnataka, the innovation has bagged the first prize at the national finale of Ink Makers held at T-Hub in Hyderabad.

The produce from his hydroponic farm will help feed underprivileged senior citizens in old age homes and NGOs, with none of it being commercially sold for profits.

Kavya Kopparapu, with a team that includes her 15-year-old brother, Neeyanth, and classmate Justin Zhang, has developed a smartphone app called Eyeagnosis.

Using available waste materials on the campus like waste palm wheels, coconut leaves, a stick, and wheels of small cycles, these students made a makeshift sweeping machine to help the aged sweeper.