City student's innovation wins award at international fair

CHENNAI: A cash award of $1500 at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held at Reno, Nevada last month has only strengthened Vishnu Jayaprakash's commitment to his research. A class XI student of Chettinad Vidyashram in Adyar, he has spent the last year developing an economical microbial fuel cell (using a graphite sheet instead of imported carbon paper as an electrode), guided by professor T S Nagarajan of the department of physics at IIT-Madras. "On comparing it with similar fuel cells developed around the world between 1998 and the present day in terms of current density, I have found that mine ranks fifth. However, my fuel cell is 90% cheaper than all the others. Professor Nagarajan and I are working on using sulfonated poly ethene ether keatone (SPEEK) as a cheaper alternative to Nafion, the imported proton exchange membrane that is currently being used. This accounts for half the current cost of the fuel cell at $ 5 (Rs 242). We expect SPEEK to lower the expense of the proton exchange membrane to $1 instead $2.50 if it can be used," Vishnu said. He plans to pursue a course related to Energy and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or any of the IITs. Pointing out that his participation in ISEF had brought him in contact with 800 like-minded students, the youngster particularly remembered his interaction with 17-year-old Philip Stireich of Kentucky. "He found out a method to extract graphene, which now costs millions of dollars, for a mere $ 5. I thought that was really awesome," he said. Vishnu added that there were interesting innovations in his category, "Energy and Transportation," which included a car that ran on water and a method to reduce the vibration on rockets. Vishnu, part of a seven-member team from India, said he had made many friends at the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) fair in Kolkata, the national rung of the event. "During our stay at Reno, we visited Lake Tahoe, went rock-climbing and hang-gliding for the first time ever. While we were climbing, we came across a very steep waterfall that was about 100 feet high. I helped the others get hold of the single foot hole close to the falls that would get them across to an island in the middle. I was glad I could help them out. It was quite cool," he said.

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