Everyday school lessons, aboard a solar-powered bus

The classroom on wheels for students of Kadapakkam was designed by Engineers Without Borders —Photo: Special Arrangement

When volunteers with Engineers Without Borders decided to design a classroom on wheels for students of Kadapakkam, East Coast Road, they decided to ensure that everything inside the bus operated on solar power. They also designed the interiors to be ergonomically perfect to ensure the children enjoyed their learning experience.

Over the past year, the EWB team has been working with a non-profit organisation, TEWFI (The East West Foundation of India), to design and build a bus that would travel around rural India to supplement students' education. “Every day, there is a different subject taught. TEWFI has developed a curriculum that teaches using animation and all children are given laptops. Once they are taught the concept, they work out exercises on their laptops,” D. Gokul, president of the Tamil Nadu chapter of EWB, said.

The bus, which was launched last month, has been travelling around Kadapakkam, and is being used by students from over 10 schools. Around 18 student volunteers, guided by engineering professionals and experts, were involved in the project. Our challenge was to make sure that even students in the last row could see the LED TV in the front,” A. Sarath Kumar, a final year Mechanical Engineering student.

The team then decided to raise the height of the seats in the back row by a couple of inches. After that, the work on the solar panels started. “Everything on the bus runs on solar power, and there is also a battery backup to ensure things function even at night. The design that was the toughest part,” Sarayu, a chemical engineering student, said.

Even as the first bus has been launched to teach school students, the team is already working on another bus that will use a hybrid engine. “We are looking for funding for the new bus, which will cost around Rs. 40 to 60 lakh. The initial project was donated to us by Satish Ramakrishnan, an IIT alumnus,” Mr. Gokul said.

EWB helps engineering students and professionals get together and develop socially responsible engineering solutions to everyday problems.

The team is also working on a project to provide solar power to a Corporation school in KK Nagar,. The team can be contacted atewbchennai@gmail.com.