City school gets nod for Atal Tinkering Lab

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 2

Realising the need to create scientific temper and cultivate the spirit of curiosity and innovation among young minds, the Central Government has set up the Atal Innovation Mission at NITI Aayog, which proposes to support establishment of a network of Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL), where young minds can give shape to their ideas through hands-on do-it-yourself mode and learn innovation skills.

Under the programme, many schools presented their claims for getting the sanction for the lab. Some shortlisted schools, out of these, were invited to participate in an ‘Innovation Contest’ held at various regional centres. Delhi Public School, Amritsar, has got selected among 257 schools that would get government sanction for establishing the prestigious Atal Lab in the school.

A team from the school, including teachers and students, presented their plan on November 5, 2016, at NITI Aayog Centre at Chandigarh in front of a team of experts from the aayog.

Three students Madhav Arora, Rithik Lalchandani and Shubham Joshi, under the guidance of their mentors Rajinder Singh Sagoo and Harjinder Pal Singh, developed a presentation showing how they could solve the two critical problems of their cities through their innovative ideas. They addressed the problems of improper storage of food grains and their wastage’ and power cuts. The PPT emphasised problems at hand and their solutions through innovative ideas and illustrated the devices, which could be used to deal with the problems.

The issue of ‘Improper Storage of Food Grains and their Wastage’ was tackled by using a device, which used Arduino Boards and an ultrasonic motion sensor that helped in regulating temperature and other factors for the well-being of food grains whereas the challenge of power cuts was suggested to be tackled through a device that would convert mechanical energy into electrical energy through the principle of Electromagnetic Induction (EMI). They also presented a PPT to express their thoughts on how they would use the ATAL Lab, if they got the approval to establish one.