Electricity has always been one of the major issues in India. People are all set to watch the IPL match on the weekend and, lights out! Oh! It’s a Saturday. This is just the urban situation, there are areas when there is almost no electricity for days. And, when the burnt child dreads the fire, he/she also tries to go beyond the fire that hurt it. Today, we are to talk about a Duo, who are already CEO’s of a self-built brand – ENERGYBRID.
Nandhika Venkateswaran, a Second Year BE Hons student of Biomedical and BSc Microbiology at University of Sydney along with her partner Lajin Bhaskar Lal, a Second Year B Tech student in Mechanical Engineering at Presidency University in Bengaluru spoke to INN about their achievements.
Lajin and Nandhika, when asked about the thought behind EnergyBrid said,
“The backstory is actually something very simple and almost all of us can relate to this if we have lived in India for quite a long time. We have often experienced power-cuts in India that last for 12 hours sometimes and this was definitely an issue. Although the conditions have improved in India for now, to meet the demands for electricity it is not being done in the right way. Thermal power plants and nuclear power plants although a feasible option is not a very sustainable or environment friendly. Hence, we came up with EnergyBrid.”
What is EnergyBrid?
- EnergyBrid is a combination of 3 words.
- Energy, Hybrid and Grid because the brand is harnessing energy and hybridising it with the electrical grid system, told the Duo.
- It is a Piezoelectric Grid System.
(Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress.) - EnergyBrid will use motors and mechanics that will help generate electricity
- The major feature of EnergyBrid is that, the electricity will be conducted using FOOTSTEPS
- The setup might be in a TILE format.
- It is said to be put in college corridors to make the most of the footsteps in the area.
“To be honest, 18 year olds like us in the first year, had absolutely no idea where to begin with,”
Nandhika said.Adding to it, Lajin told that,
“The feasibility of our earlier tech was difficult. It was a very difficult topic in terms of piezoelectric plates, as they are not very effective. It was difficult while working on the prototype and hence, we had to go through a lot of research papers and I even asked my professors to explain to us about the same.”
Stating that Helm of Eight and Headstart along with CISCO were their international mentors and helped them through their incubation period, the duo also told about their experience at the Red Bull Basement University.
“We started working on the experiment in the year 2019 just a few months before the Red Bull Basement University Competition,”
Lajin told and said that it was through Nandhika’s contact that she came to know of the competition who worked at Red Bull in Australia.
To help the next generation of students develop their ideas, Red Bull Basement provides resources such as mentors, workshops, networking events and more, both online and on participating campuses.
“We knew that this was a good opportunity for us to showcase our talent and innovation,”
says Nandhika and, the duo was the National Winner of the Red Bull Basement University in the year 2019.
Terming the Red Bull University competitions as an experience of a lifetime, EnergyBrid then got a chance to get to Toronto for the Global Round for which, it was in its incubation period for a month. During the development time given to them, Helm of Heart and Headstart were their motivators.
EnergyBrid did not just stop there. Lajin Bhaskar represented the model during a Google India summit, and was appreciated for the same.
Creating pathways in colleges that usually are crowded with students can be fitted the piezoelectric system which will convert the pressure of the footsteps into electricity is what Nandhika and Lajin plan to do. The energy can be stored and used for necessary purposes. If the model is successful, it can even provide electricity for the whole college.
Nandhika, while talking about Lajin said that,
“Lajin was more than a motivating factor and the backbone of the idea. Being an outgoing person, he made sure were on track while the project and had fun at the same time. We’ve known each other since 2 years and I found my potential for research and innovation due to him.”
The duo goes hand in hand and both of them are each other’s motivators that helps them be on the right track and grow EnergyBrid as well as themselves in the procedure.
When asked about their future plans in relation to EnergyBrid, they said,
“We have planned to expand it to a biomedical based company and also help with other forms of energy harnessing which is more sustainable and environment friendly.”
Nandhika and Lajin have showcased the world that, if one is passionate and in action about bringing in a change in the world for the better, Nothing is Impossible!
