Only in their teens, a group of aspiring scientists congregated at a Bishop Cotton Boys’ School-organised mega science and IT festival — Synchronize — to exhibit eco-friendly innovations that clearly showed their keenness to protect the degrading environment.
Around a dozen models on display at the event looked at ways to help save planet Earth. An all-girls team of Vidya Shilp Academy prepared an eco-friendly motor boat that ran with the help of a propeller and a battery. “The boat can be turned into a car. Our model reduces use of conventional sources of energy like petrol and diesel and depends on renewal energy,” said Iyer.
Both Manda and Iyer aim to take up scientific research when they grow up.
A model showcased by Sourabh Siyal and Tushar Agarwal, students of Christ College, too showed the youngsters’ concern for the environment. A washing machine, aptly named Eco-wash, was made out of junk material and ran on mechanical and kinetic energy, without the use of electricity.
“The junk materials include a discarded plastic bottle, which we used as a box to wash clothes. A pulley is attached to the plastic bottle to run the machine. The pulley moves with the help of kinetic energy and helps to wash clothes,” explained Agarwal, who wants to be a scientific innovator.
“Our idea is to do away with electricity and come up with an alternative. The washing machine can be useful in big textile industries. We’re planning to give our idea to one of India’s leading garment manufacturing units,” said Siyal, who too wanted to pursue research works in the field of science.
Four students of Outreach School, with the help of their physics teacher, designed an earthquake predictor.
“The earthquake predictor is nothing but a borewell. The borewell is attached to a buzzer. The buzzer makes sound if the underground water level increases, which means that the movement of lava in the underground is moving at a faster rate, an indication of the likelihood of an earthquake.
The fast movement of lava will force the water level to increase, which in turn will make the buzzer give out signals,” explained Subramanian K, a student.
The two-day event, which ended on Wednesday, saw the participation from 35 schools and about 1000 students from the city, who came together to innovate and learn various scientific and technological skills.
