K. Mohan, a final year Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering student from SRM University, is a man on a mission: to invent innovative machines that will make the world a better place. A recipient of six national awards and seven state awards, he first began inventing when he was just in Std VII.
Simple solutions
He explains how he got started: “When I was about 14 years of age, I started developing a herbal mosquito repellent. At that time, the Chikungunya epidemic was rampant in my neighbourhood. I had taken it up as a challenge to come up with a simple solution to the problem.”
There was no looking back after this as he began his passionate foray into the world of inventions. And his work since then cannot be termed as anything short of fascinating.
“After developing the herbal mosquito repellent, I was able to successfully build inventions like the Speed Breaker Based Power Generation System through Piezoelectric Crystals, which can generate electricity for domestic consumption; a Novel Mobile Detector Sensing, Alarming and Reporting System, which helps detect and report the presence of mobile phones in prohibited areas; a Mobile Controlling Device for Vehicles, which will prevent a person from making or receiving calls when driving; and a pocket-sized mini-microscope built with unbreakable fibre glass that can transmit images to your laptop,” elucidates Mohan.
The workings
His latest invention that has left many people asking for more is an automatic dosa -making machine that can make as many as 1200 dosas in an hour! “Most students living in hostels are forced to eat sub-standard food. My automatic dosa -making machine saves them from such a predicament,” he says.
The mechanism of the machine, which comes with a tawa , is quite simple. One needs to pour dosa batter and oil in a container and simply switch it on.
The machine will pour the batter and oil on the tawa, scrape it off and place it on a plate. And the process is super quick with five dosas being dished out every 30 seconds! The machine runs on electricity and can be customised to suit the requirements of different groups.
“The machine weighs 55 kilogrammes and is priced at Rs. 1,50,000. It is in the process of being patented after which I would like to sell it commercially. My invention would not have seen the light of the day without the support of my university,” adds Mohan.
Currently, Mohan is working on developing a Heart Attack Deduction Device, a chip that can alert a person 24 hours before he gets a heart attack. “It is my dream project and I hope it will benefit many people soon,” he concludes.
