Class II student's solar powered light wins science prize

A second class student from the city had seen LED lights getting energy from the Sun during Navratri. Curiosity and the will to learn led him to earn accolades for making a project on non-conventional sources of energy. The project is of converting solar energy to electrical energy.

Seven-year-old Mihir Lanjewar's project made with the help of his father Khemraj won second prize in his category at the BrainCafe Budding Scientist Contest 2014 held in the city recently. He will be presenting the same model for the national level competition to be held in Mumbai soon. Teachers of Vimaltai Tidke Convent, Pratap Nagar, where he studies, are now helping him prepare for the presentation.

"He watches live telecast of satellite launches and keeps asking questions. So when his teachers informed him about a budding science contest, he decided to participate. Since Navratri festival had taken place recently where he had seen the LED light display, he was excited about the idea. So I went along and helped him develop something on similar lines," informed Khemraj, a BPO employee.

With this achievement of his son, Khemraj thinks history is repeating itself. "As a Class XII student in Chakoli in 1989, I had made a musical instrument working on hydroelectricity for the science exhibition that had received appreciation from chief guest Atal Behari Vajpayee, who later became PM," he said.

Made from materials like plywood, PVC pipe, a solar panel, a two-way switch, LED (10 mm), DVD motor, fan blades, flexible wire, the only expensive part of the model was a silicon chip that Khemraj got from a teacher friend. Narrating how he explained the little boy about electricity and how it works, the proud father said, "I used domestic situations to give him examples about the role of photons, neutrons and electron such that he started calling his mother, himself and me by these names."

For Mihir, learning something new and building an entire project was much more interesting than the prize. He said he would want to be an engineer and make more projects, bigger ones that would help improve people's lives without harming the environment. Teacher Pranita Tembhare, who is helping Mihir with the project, said Mihir had always been a curious student. "The project became even more special for us because the theme of our school for this year is 'save', that encourages children to learn about renewable energy sources," said principal Surekha Kothe.