The 2013 edition of the 'Young Inventors Award' took place at the Rotary House of Friendship, where 60 of the brightest minds from 16 government schools of the City showcased innovative inventions that they ideated and made from scratch.
"We want to spark the scientific intellect in children and for that, there needs to be an emphasis on government schools because there is plenty of talent there but not enough encouragement to take up the subject seriously," informs Sridhar Chari, director of vocational services, Rotary Club of Bangalore. He adds, "With these children, the talent just needs to be nurtured. Only that initial spark is needed and then they'll find a way to do it themselves."
The inventions varied in complexity, with simple ones like magic mirrors for reversing the car and energy generation using kitchen waste to elaborate biomass gasification generators and low-cost optic fibres.
Regardless of whether or not their invention won, the students were proud of the work they had done and demonstrated their models to visitors with smiles and explanations.
For instance, there was a group of three ninth-graders — Vasanthi, Chaitra and Nousheen from BBMP Girls High School — who came up with a simple way to generate electricity. "In villages, there are big rotating fans that produce electricity.
We wanted to see if it could be done in cities because we have noticed those rotating gates in malls. We made a small-scale model to explain that the mechanical energy from the movement could be saved. It shows as a deflection in the galvanometer and so we know it was successful," explains Chaitra.
Another interesting invention was a cycle connected to an old mixie mounted on it that ran on friction with the wheels.
"Every time the cycle's wheel rotates, the spikes in the mixie move. We had seen an advertisement, where instead of a mixie, the same principle applied to a light bulb. We were inspired and decided to make this," shares Gajendra, a student of Government High School (Pottery Town) who made this with his friends, Salman and Sanjeev. "Next time, we'll look at the possibility of making a washing machine that works purely on mechanical energy," he adds.
In some cases, the stories behind the idea were more engaging than the inventions themselves.
After being stuck on a hill during a field trip, due to an accident that had taken place at a blind curve, two young sixth-graders decided to do something about it.
"On hilly roads, there is a need for a warning system.
It will prevent collisions of vehicles coming from both sides of the sharp curves in those narrow lanes. We came up with a motion-sensitive alarm that informs someone on either side that they have to wait till the other car passes," notes a proud Lokesh, who worked with his friend Pramod on this invention.
"We want to spark the scientific intellect in children and for that, there needs to be an emphasis on government schools because there is plenty of talent there but not enough encouragement to take up the subject seriously," informs Sridhar Chari, director of vocational services, Rotary Club of Bangalore. He adds, "With these children, the talent just needs to be nurtured. Only that initial spark is needed and then they'll find a way to do it themselves."
The inventions varied in complexity, with simple ones like magic mirrors for reversing the car and energy generation using kitchen waste to elaborate biomass gasification generators and low-cost optic fibres.
Regardless of whether or not their invention won, the students were proud of the work they had done and demonstrated their models to visitors with smiles and explanations.
For instance, there was a group of three ninth-graders — Vasanthi, Chaitra and Nousheen from BBMP Girls High School — who came up with a simple way to generate electricity. "In villages, there are big rotating fans that produce electricity.
We wanted to see if it could be done in cities because we have noticed those rotating gates in malls. We made a small-scale model to explain that the mechanical energy from the movement could be saved. It shows as a deflection in the galvanometer and so we know it was successful," explains Chaitra.
Another interesting invention was a cycle connected to an old mixie mounted on it that ran on friction with the wheels.
"Every time the cycle's wheel rotates, the spikes in the mixie move. We had seen an advertisement, where instead of a mixie, the same principle applied to a light bulb. We were inspired and decided to make this," shares Gajendra, a student of Government High School (Pottery Town) who made this with his friends, Salman and Sanjeev. "Next time, we'll look at the possibility of making a washing machine that works purely on mechanical energy," he adds.
In some cases, the stories behind the idea were more engaging than the inventions themselves.
After being stuck on a hill during a field trip, due to an accident that had taken place at a blind curve, two young sixth-graders decided to do something about it.
"On hilly roads, there is a need for a warning system.
It will prevent collisions of vehicles coming from both sides of the sharp curves in those narrow lanes. We came up with a motion-sensitive alarm that informs someone on either side that they have to wait till the other car passes," notes a proud Lokesh, who worked with his friend Pramod on this invention.