Bhubaneswar: A Class X student from Odisha has received the INSPIRE Award-MANAK (Millions Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) at the National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC) held at New Delhi.
Hiranmaya Pati of Kendriya Vidyalaya-3 Bhubaneswar received the prestigious award Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, at a function held in the national capital on Wednesday.
Altogether 62 students from across the country got felicitated in the function after their projects were awarded in the NLEPC, a flagship initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, (DST), implemented in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation–India, an autonomous body under DST.
Pati has designed a project “Multipurpose Walking Stick for Mountain Trekkers” under the guidance of Jyotirmayee Tripathy, s senior science teacher in the school. The stick will be facilitating the mountain trekkers for their trekking in the strip rock. It has also been redesigned so that every person can use it after customisation, said his guide.
The project will solve the mountain trekkers’ problems such as heavy weights of backpack, water and power issues, issues of navigation, low visibility, and environment conditions etc. “Initially the project was designed to solve these problems. But now we modified it in such a manner which can cater for general use by needy people like elders, children going out alone etc” Tripathy said.
During his address in the felicitation meeting, the Minister praised his project and referred to the name of it along with other projects which were showcased in the exhibition.
After his project is awarded in the NLEPC, it will be patented by the Department of Science and Technology, said Tripathy. He has also been selected to visit Japan under the SAKURA programme for exchange of scientific ideas in the International forum, she said.
“I am very happy as my project got an award in the NLEPC and selected to participate in the prestigious SAKURA programme in Japan”, said an excited Pati.
