Beautiful Minds

On Tuesday,18 innovators from across India,all of them engineers,pitted their designs against others’ for a chance to win Rs 2 lakh as prize and sponsors for their project. The competition was organised by National Geographic Channel and Yamaha at IIT-Delhi. A team of four from Bangalore came up with a device to increase fuel efficiency and combat pollution. Nicknamed Water Bike,it costs Rs 1,500 to install and works on the principle of water separating into hydrogen and oxygen. However,it lost out to Dr Dilip Velaskar’s Thrombochek Test Kit that measures blood platelet count,a boon for people with high blood pressure and diabetes. “I will use this money to further the research,” said Mumbai-based Velaskar who pocketed the winner’s cheque.

There was no age limit in this competition. Sharatchandra Tase (in the picture),74,from Mumbai has over a hundred patents to his name. His latest is a pair of anti-glare glasses,which assist drivers during night-time driving. The glasses are fitted with two film transparencies that have criss-crossed lines printed on it. As light passes through the films,it gets dispersed. “It is based on the physics principle that light disperses when it passes through a pattern,” says Tase,who plans to approach the Technopreneur Promotion Programme under the Ministry of Science and Technology for a quality certificate.