She has designed a solar-powered ironing cart to replace charcoal-filled appliance. She is a finalist for the prestigious Earthshot environmental prize. She called for action and not just anger at the global platform COP26. And she is just 15. Meet Vinisha Umashankar – a young environmentalist, pegged to be India’s Greta Thunberg.
“We have every reason to be angry. But I have no time for anger. I want to act. I am not just a girl from India. I am a girl from Earth and I am proud to be so. I am also a student, innovator, environmentalist and entrepreneur, but most importantly, I’m an optimist,” she said at the COP26, after being invited by Prince William to speak at the global conference on climate change, billed as the world’s last chance at reducing global temperatures.
But who is Vinisha Umashankar? Here’s a closer look at the environmentalist’s work and life so far.
The Idea That Started it All
A native of the rural town Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, Vinisha describes herself as a ‘Chief Innovation Officer’ on her Linkedin page. The environmentalist started her journey when she was just 12 – by working on the ‘Solar Ironing Cart’. The idea came to her as she would accompany her mother to deliver clothes to an old couple for ironing, the Hindu reports. Seeing how they ironed with charcoal-filled cast-iron boxes with difficulty in the heat, she then began work to make their life, and the environment, cleaner.
“It made me think about the amount of charcoal burnt every day and the damage it does to the environment,” Umashankar said, NPR reports. Producing and burning charcoal emits particulate matter, which pollutes the air, as well as greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change.
The Solar-powered Iron-Max
She designed a cart with solar panels to power a steam iron over the course of six months in 2019. She poured over college-level physics textbooks to learn how solar panels work. Then she pitched her idea to the Indian government’s National Innovation Foundation. Engineers then assisted her in creating a full-scale working prototype and filing for a patent.
The result was Iron-Max, a blue-painted cart in the shape of an iron box, with solar panels installed on its roof. It’s attached to a bicycle, allowing vendors to move around the neighbourhood collecting clothes to press. Five hours of direct sunlight is sufficient to run the iron for six hours. The energy can be stored in a battery and used to power a device on cloudy days. The cart also has a coin-operated cellphone and a cellphone charging point where people can pay to recharge their phones, which helps vendors supplement their earnings.
However, this is not Vinisha’s sole innovation. She has also designed a smart ceiling fan, which operates by itself using motion sensors. She bagged an award for the design in 2019.
Her Parents and School Life
The Class 10 student’s father S Umashankar works as a business consultant, and her mother U. Sangeetha works as school teacher. “She (Vinisha) is class topper and her time management between studies and extracurricular activities is excellent. Her mother teaches science in our school,” SKP Vanitha International School Principal Prathiba Shyam told the Hindu.
According to Vinisha, she is interested in science experiments, stargazing, microscopy, gymnastics, cycling, swimming and gardening. “I had won many elocution, debate, quiz, essay-writing, singing, drawing and yoga competitions at the school, district, state and national levels,” the innovator says.
Awards and Recognition
Vinisha has received the Children’s Climate Prize in 2020 by the Children’s Climate Foundation in Sweden, for her solar cart. Her first national award for innovation was with the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award in 2019, and the environmentalist is also the youngest recipient of the Dr. Pradeep P. Thevannoor Innovation Award in the same year for her innovation ‘the Smart Ceiling Fan’. The award was given by the SCMS School of Engineering and Technology, Kerala in association with the Kerala Startup Mission and Kalam Technical University (KTU).
Vinisha was also the recipient of the Earth Day Network Rising Star in 2021, awarded by the Earth Day Network in US.
Now, she is among the fifteen finalists on the shortlist for Prince William’s Earthshot environmental prize to reward innovative solutions to the planet’s biggest problems.
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