A quick look and one can easily dismiss them off as regular youngsters until they start showcasing their inventions. If giving life to an idea can be a challenge, then a bunch of ‘social innovators’ from the city have gone a step ahead and created products specifically aimed at helping society.

At the TedxYouth@Hyderabad event held on Sunday, enthusiastic students between 10 and 20 years celebrated spirit of entrepreneurship and design.

All of 15 years, Shahebaz Khan and M. Nikhil, were inspired by the superhero character, ‘Ironman’ and two months later, they have a promising product that can help the physically-challenged.

Named ‘Arm of God’, the prototype model is made of aluminium and is shaped like an arm. The model, aided by a piston, works on the pressure created by vacuum helping the to and fro movement of the device.

“We created it for a science exhibition and the total cost of building it is not more than Rs 2,000,” said Nikhil, a class X student of Glendale School. “We want to further improve the model by attaching a motor or using light weight carbon fibre material instead of aluminium.”

“It can be used by those whose hands are paralysed or those who are handicapped,” said Shahebaz Khan. “It can also reduce the risk and hard labour of the construction site workers. We want our product to be useful to people.” The youngsters are searching for investors and plan to build even other body parts in a similar way.

A postgraduate from IIIT, Hyderabad, S.P. Mohanty, wants his tech innovation to revolutionise the education field in the country. Developed in August this year, ‘Yet Another 3D Controller’ has been presented at various international fests. With just a phone, Wi-Fi connection and a laptop, different 3D images and models can be explained effectively in classrooms.

A simple demonstration of a 3D image of heart being tilted and turned just by the movement of an iPhone was enough for the participants to watch in surprise.

“It is all about simplifying teaching through interactive media,” said Mr. Mohanty, “There is no cost involved in buying or using this product. Subjects like geometry, biology and structural engineering can be taught better with 3D images. By December, I plan to develop various images and upload it to a website. This will be an open source model and anyone can use it.”

How to tackle the mosquito menace in a cost effective and environment friendly way?

G. Navya, a class X student of Oakridge School and co-organiser of the event, demonstrated the ‘Solar-powered multipurpose mosquito swatter’ to the crowd.

According to her, the product is not only more durable but also more economical.

One of the models on display is Arm of God, the model made of aluminium and shaped like an arm, that can help physically-challenged persons

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by Staff Reporter / November 16th, 2015