He was merrily pedalling away on a stationary bicycle. A closer look revealed that the front wheel of the cycle was attached to the wheel of a wet grinder by the means of a belt that was responsible for operating it for grinding batter.
There were many school students like him who had come to Coimbatore to display their scientific innovations.
They were the hand-picked ones from the whole of the State, and the exhibits / projects that they had displayed at Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology here on Friday too were as unique.
As many as 418 school children selected from 15 schools in 32 districts of the State had taken part in the two-day exhibition held under the aegis of the ‘Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research’ (INSPIRE) of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The expo was conducted in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, Chennai, and the college.
Working model
On the basis of a project presentation, 15 to 20 students in each school in each district were given Rs. 5,000 by the DST for preparing a working model of the project.
According to A. Ramesh, Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering of the college, who is the co-ordinator of the exhibition, the State-finalists were selected from a larger number of participants who took part in a district-level exhibition.
Earlier, inaugurating the expo, P. Palaniappan, Higher Education Minister, said the INSPIRE programme would enable children develop passion for research early in life.
Prizes
“A panel of judges will select the top 40 projects to be sent to the national-level expo to be held in Delhi. All 40 students will receive one sovereign gold coin. Next best 40 projects will receive silver coins, and 80 others will receive books as prizes,” the Minister said.
T.S. Sridhar, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, urged children to develop a scientific temper.
“Only this will lead to curiosity and questions and that in turn will lead to new concepts and discoveries. Many societal problems can only be solved scientifically. Science cities that are coming up will focus on developing scientific temperament in students. Mission 2023 of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa aims at making Tamil Nadu the innovation capital and knowledge hub of India,” he said.
Patent
The focus of the State was to ensure quality, access and equity in education to all. Viable projects of the students would not only be awarded prizes, but also be helped to be patented, he added.
S.M. Velusamy, Mayor of Coimbatore Corporation, S. Malarvizhi, chairperson and managing trustee, Sri Krishna and VLB Institutions, P. Iyamperumal, executive director, Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, spoke.
The expo, which drew school students in droves, will end on Saturday with the valediction where the prize winners will be felicitated.
