A dozen students hunch over a table in the Physics laboratory of St Teresa’s College, Kochi, working with bits and pieces of wire, LED strips, a soldering iron and bulb casings. They’re making LED bulbs. In September this year, the students distributed 500 of these, all made by them, to the flood-affected in Pizhala panchayat, Kerala, when they were given shelter at the college relief centre.
Close to 30 students, mostly undergraduates and some postgraduates, worked in shifts for two weeks, during their study leave, assembling the bulbs.
As part of the Energy Management Centre’s (EMC) energy conservation awareness campaign, Urja Kiran, the college began working on a series of programmes aimed at creating awareness about energy conservation in 2015. They formulated diverse programmes, of which LED bulb-making is a part. Christened ‘I Connect’ in 2017 — derived from Initiatives for Conservation of Nature and Energy — it extends beyond Urja Kiran programmes today.
“We designed a series of extension activities which we felt would be relevant, not just to the students but also to society. The girls speak at rural schools about the need for efficient energy consumption and management, besides conducting bulb-making workshops,” says Associate Prof Kala MS, head of the department.
First-year undergraduate students are taught how to assemble the bulbs and they impart the knowledge to organisations such as Kudumbashree, as part of college outreach activities. This collection of community-based women-only self-helps groups in Kerala now has one woman who plans to open a shop selling LED bulbs.
The components for the 12-watt bulbs are sourced locally, with the net cost being less than ₹100. The college usually buys the components; however, State Bank of India contributed an amount towards helping with making bulbs for the Pizhala panchayat. Recently, Kalady panchayat placed an order for 500 LED bulbs, but it is “possible only if we get sponsorship,” says Kala.
The bulbs are assembled under the watchful eyes of laboratory assistant Pearl Antony. “The girls are adept; assembling one bulb takes hardly five minutes. The only mix-up, if at all, is when the positive and negative are positioned incorrectly,” he says. The activity is voluntary, done during after college hours.
“The girls don’t mind spending an hour after college working in the lab. We cannot and do not force them. Even when we were making the bulbs for Pizhala, they volunteered their time and effort,” say Assistant Professors Frincy Francis and Minu Pius. There are plans to go large-scale. “That would involve more work, and the nature of work will change. We will then need a certification and other quality checks,” says Kala. Other plans include the production of mobile phone chargers using solar cells, for which the college is working with Aluva-based Mithradham – Renewable Energy Centre, Kerala.
Second-year undergrad student Ann Sivna Rose sees it as exposure to becoming the entrepreneur she wants to be, while first-year student Jinitha Tresa says, “It is encouraging, especially the response we get when we talk about energy conservation, and the changes people we have spoken to make towards that end.”
