Thursday 7 July 2016

How does real meaning of the word "Innovation" gets established?



These photographs establish that it does not take a degree to innovate even for scientific products. I clicked these photographs while having tea along a roadside in Faridabad,India. This tea shop owner who has done this simple yet brilliant innovation could not afford a cooler in the intense heat so innovated himself a marvellous cooler from a waste plastic drum by making cut through sections at 2 sides. To make the grass wet for the cooling effect and instead of an electric motor he utilized the principal of gravity by placing a water bucket just above the roof of his small tea shop with water being released through a hole very slowly. Infact , this amazing cooler had both water inlet & outlet pipe arrangements. A fan was installed at one side of the drum sufficient to throw air at the desired comfort. This man did not seem to have gone even to basic school but still innovated so well.
                  To young engineers I just want to mention that " Real definition of Innovation gets established when you can solve a problem at a cost affordable to mass recepients because at a high price with all luxury of costly engineered components any one can innovate". So one may stop blaming budget deficits for lack of inventions. It is the will and the clear understanding about the genuine need that will empower you to find a way not some budget issues. Although we have heard that Innovations happen only if both "Can" & "Will" coincide but the fact is that this "Can" factor only works if there is a strong "Will". 
                 If an innovation has no commercial value and is not affordable to mass then it is not impressive at all in today's economically challenged environment across the globe. So friends spread your wings to find time for small yet economically & socially beneficial improvements/innovations irrespective of nature of profession whether related to engineering or not. May be with investment of few minutes of yours poor people like this tea shop vendor will get great experiences in their challenging life. And 'Yes', local developments similar to the one in above pictures using waste resources or without sophisticated machines,often called with the word "Jugaad" , are casually taken by observers in India & other developing nations but they also are real innovations that are made mostly by less educated yet full of life dreaming individuals who develop something at a price affordable to mass. If illiterate people like this tea vendor can innovate based on this logic then why can't we?

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