Innovations, city’s diversity on display

Coimbatore: Born to a farmer family, it was heartbreaking for C Silambarasan to see large quantity of tomatoes, which were kept for sale, getting rotten and going to waste. He wanted to do something to save their livelihood and the Class VIII student of the panchayat union middle school at Nallaganakothapalli in Krishnagiri district discussed the matter with his teacher A Subashini and friend V Archana. The trio have come up with a solution today.
“The vegetables are rotting quickly because of the water content in them. Hence, we decided to remove the water content and powder them, so that they could be used for days together,” Silambarasan said. He explained that instead of drying the vegetables in sunlight, they were dipped in liquid nitrogen the temperature of which is -321degree Fahrenheit to remove the water content. “The process will take only a few seconds.”

Whenever farmers could not sell their produce, they could always powder and store them, so that they won’t incur loss, he said. The innovation was on display at the two-day Science and Technology Festival that got under way at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex here on Sunday as part of the ongoing Coimbatore Vizha celebrations.

Another innovation that was on display was an alternative to plastic cups. And there wouldn’t have been a better time to showcase the alternative, with the plastic ban is on in the state. The specialty is that these cups are edible. A Abinaya, Class VIII student of panchayat union middle school at Bagya Nagar in Ooty, along with her teacher L Sundaram, has come up with the cups that are made of wheat and corn flour.

“Moulding the flour mixture in the form of cup, it is heated for about 10 minutes in a chamber with IR lamp and reflectors. The cup could be used to drink any liquid immediately. We could either eat the cup or throw it for stray animals to consume,” Abinaya said.

A total of 100 schools and 37 colleges in and around the district participated in the expo on Sunday. R Vishnu Prabhakar, chairperson of the Vizha, said they had scrutinized the projects for one month and selected only the ones that are functional. They had received more than 250 entries.

“The theme of the Vizha is ‘impact and inspire’ and the science expo was organized for the first time in the city to inspire the citizens. With numerous projects such as drone race and virtual reality, a separate zone was created to offer the children the experience of basic science and inspire them,” he said.

The Vizha also featured a parade on Sunday, showcasing the city’s unity in diversity. More than 16,000 participants from 16 community associations and six school bands took part in the event.

“We may have different cultures, but we want to show that we are yet united. It not only shows how secular the country is, but also sort out the communal differences among the people,” said Preeti Shah, one of the participants.