Remya Jose: Pedal-powered washing machine
Pedal-powered washing machine.
With her mother unwell, Remya and her twin sister were washing the family's clothes at the river and losing study time after Class 10 exams. She sketched a horizontal mesh drum inside a cabin, driven by a bicycle pedal, chain and sprocket, and had a local automobile workshop fabricate it. Soak for ten minutes, pedal for three or four, drain, rinse, pedal again and the clothes come out about 80 per cent dry. No electricity, and it doubles as exercise. Her advice, recorded by NIF: "Whatever you have in mind, try it. Don't worry about making mistakes, they can surely be corrected."
She won the National Innovation Foundation's student award in its third national cycle, presented by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
IP note
NIF-filed Indian application 643/CHE/2003 (7 Aug 2003); NIF records grant as Patent No. 207634; 20-year term now over.
Recognition
NIF national student award (3rd cycle), presented by President Kalam.
What this means for a student inventor in India
[Editor: 120–200 words connecting this story to the Indian route — Section 6 (any true inventor may apply), provisional vs complete specification, disclosure at fairs (Section 31), renewals, and who owns what when a school is involved. Link to the relevant MYCrave guide.]
Related young innovators
- George Nissen — The trampoline
- Chester Greenwood — Earmuffs with a spring-steel headband
- Blaise Pascal — The Pascaline mechanical calculator
Sources
[Editor: list the 2–4 primary sources from the research notes for this entry, with the date checked.]
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