Innovation

From a student who built a solar bulb on his terrace to engineers empowering tribal villages, meet seven remarkable Indians turning sunlight into safety, dignity, and opportunity for communities where the grid never reached.

Engineer Amey Desai has created WALK, a wearable device that helps people with Parkinson’s overcome freezing of gait. Alongside the app and Pathfinder cloud system, it offers real-time support, remote monitoring, and improved mobility.

Friendship knows no boundaries, as proven by neurodivergent teens Vir and Mihaan, whose contrasting personalities forge a beautiful bond. Inspired by their connection, their mothers created ‘Buddy Up Network’, a friendship app for people with disabilities, offering a safe space to build meaningful relationships.

Battery Smart, an EV battery tech startup founded by IIT-Kanpur graduates Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, does over 1 lakh swaps on its network. With over 1,600 stations across more than 50 cities, the startup has emerged as a leading player in the EV battery-swapping sector.

Chinar trees, which once stood vulnerable to illegal felling, are now receiving the protection they deserve. With geo-tagging technology, the J&K Forest Department is ensuring these giants thrive for future generations.

In Chennai, women drive dark green e-autos selling fresh vegetables — packed not in plastic, but in bright yellow manjapai cloth bags. This eco-friendly project empowers women, revives tradition, and tackles plastic waste.

Researchers at NIT Rourkela, led by Dr Preetam Sarkar, are transforming agricultural waste like jackfruit, jamun, and litchi seeds into biodegradable films. These innovative films offer eco-friendly food packaging alternatives, extending shelf life while supporting a circular economy.

Through The Mumbai Plastic Recyclothon by L&T and Project Mumbai, over 500 tonnes of plastic waste have been recycled into benches, tiles, school desks, bins, and pathways across the city.

What if furniture could grow, not be built? In Mumbai, architects Bhakti Loonawat and Suyash Sawant launched ‘Anomalia’ to turn mushrooms into consoles, blocks, and textiles — light, durable pieces that challenge how we think about design.

Two college students, Snehadeep Kumar and Mohit Kumar Nayak, are building India’s first gamma-ray detecting CubeSat via their space startup Nebula Space Organisation, using affordable local materials and groundbreaking innovation.