Vinisha Umashankar, a student innovator turned environmentalist from Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, has been selected as a “change-maker” and Baton-bearer for the ongoing 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay in India. The young innovator and fledgling environmentalist Ms Vinisha has been an inspiration for many.
The 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay started at the Buckingham Palace in London on 7th October 2021 and is scheduled to conclude on 28th July 2022 at the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games after travelling 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth for 294 days. With the arrival of the Baton in India, the 27th nation in the route, the Queen’s Baton Relay will continue in India from 12th to 15th January 2022.
Ms Vinisha Umashankar received the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards instituted by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for her mobile ironing cart, which uses solar panels to power a steam iron box and turned out to be an inspiration for the world after her speech at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2021 at Glasgow, Scotland.
After the conferment of the award, NIF had been very instrumental in driving prototype development and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection for Vinisha’s innovation. NIF is also committed to improving the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of her innovation in partnership with the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).
A key benefit of Vinisha’s solar ironing cart is that it eliminates the need for coal for ironing, bringing about a welcome shift towards clean energy. End-users can move around and offer services at the doorstep for increasing their daily earning. The ironing cart can also be fitted with a coin-operated GSM PCO, USB charging points and mobile recharging, which can fetch extra income. It is an ingenious solar-powered alternative for the millions of charcoal burning ironing carts for pressing clothes and can benefit the workers and their families. The device can also be powered by pre-charged batteries, electricity, or a diesel-powered generator in the absence of sunlight.
