Stranded during floods, like the recent one that devastated the State, without any power supply and with communication devices such as mobile phones or computers drained of all charge, what would one not give for some way of charging electronic equipment instantly.
Kevin R., Richy Raju, Rahul Raju Paul, and Rincemon, students of St. Joseph’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pala, have developed a ‘Direct methanol fuel cell’ to power off-grid portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops using methanol as input fuel.
Their effort saw them bag the Best Sustainability Start-up Idea at the grand finale of the Startup Yatra, an initiative of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) to help realise the startup dreams of aspiring entrepreneurs, at Technopark on Tuesday.
Cost-effective
Methanol, Kevin and Richy say, costs ₹18 to ₹30 for a 2590 ml cartridge, and thus provides power at low cost.
Moreover, it is a biofuel derived from pyrolysis of biogas, natural gas and so on and therefore, ecofriendly. The portable fuel cell provide people with clean, easy to use, reliable and instantaneous charging for portable electronic devices.
Arunima C.R., final-year Mechanical diploma student of Government Polytechnic College, Meenangadi, Wayanad, developed a solid waste cleaner that helped clean waterbodies sans manpower, and bagged the Best Womenpreneur Award.
“The solid waste cleaner can also clean drains and remove solid waste from waterbodies, including streams, rivers, and ponds. Significantly, it can prevent workers from coming into direct contact with waste material during cleaning.”
Mohamed Saheer M. of NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, won the ‘Hero of the boot camp’ held at NIT-C, Kozhikode, for developing an electronic hardware called ‘e-stick.’
Mohamed says the e-stick allows visually and hearing impaired persons to tap into their other sense organs to function like non-differently abled persons.
Buttons
It uses buttons, feedback systems, and other systems such as vibration to give input and receive output.
For instance, if a person receives a call on their phone, they need not pick up the device but can use one button to accept the call, or even listen to songs. Or if they are in accident, they can use a feedback facility to intimate their guardians and seek help.
