FRIDAY, MAY 03, 2024
KARSTEN MIRANDA
MARGAO: Ananya Naik and Swayam Kakodkar, aged 14 and 15 years, both students of Manovikas English Medium School have successfully obtained a patent from the Indian Patent Office, Government of India, for their innovative creation titled ‘System and Method for Saline Notification’.
Their invention, known as Smart Saline, introduces an automated app-based saline notification system designed to alert nurses when it’s time to change and attend to saline bottles in patient rooms. This unique project is aimed at alleviating mental and physical stress for caregivers while also optimising crucial work hours for the medical staff. The patent has been granted for a full term of 20 years.
Ananya is in Class VIII and Swayam in Class X.
“There has been no previous use of the principle employed in our model’s operation. While there are IoT-based saline systems available in the market, their designs primarily rely on drip rate. In contrast, our model utilises saline weight for sending nurse notifications. When the saline level is nearing depletion, the Smart Saline app notifies the nurse,” said the student duo Ananya and Swayam, while speaking about what makes their innovation stand out.
“The robotic solution of the Smart Saline System focuses on addressing the repetitive task of constantly checking saline levels, allowing nurses to concentrate on more critical tasks and easing their workload,” they added.
Ananya and Swayam embarked on their journey with the Goa State Innovation Council (GSIC) over a year ago.
They tasted success at the World Robot Olympiad Nationals 2022, where this project of theirs won the Silver Medal. The innovative project was then chosen by GSIC for the development of a working prototype, and under the council’s guidance, Ananya and Swayam successfully completed the prototype’s development. Additionally, they conducted thorough testing of the device on actual patients in the hospital.
Their project holds significant promise, highlighted by their recent accolades, including the Goa Young Innovators Award 2023 and a victory at Quark 2023 at BITS. Furthermore, the project gained recognition in GSIC’s annual report.
Additionally, their pioneering innovation secured them the Special Award from IBS Global, and they clinched the Gold Award at INEX (India International Innovation and Invention Expo 2023) held in November 2023 in Goa.
The parents of Swayam, namely Vandana Kakodkar and Ranjeet Kakodkar, as well as the parents of Ananya, namely Arya Khedekar and Dr Amit Naik, also issued a joint statement to O Heraldo in response to their children’s exceptional achievement.
“We would have never thought that a small problem-solving home club that we started when Ananya and Swayam were just 9 and 10 years old would take us on a journey that would result in both Ananya and Swayam winning awards at the national level and culminate in them getting a patent. They have been persistent and committed to every task they took on all these years,” said the group of parents.
“We are humbled by the good wishes we received from so many people around us. We are grateful to GSIC for guiding them through this process and to Manovikas School for their support. We hope more Goan students avail themselves of the infrastructure that is available in Goa to pursue innovation,” they added.
“This achievement of these two young students has made the council and the State proud. I am sure other schools and colleges will emulate these students in the near future,” said GSIC Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha.
“GSIC has been actively involved in preparing the road map for innovation in Goa in 2016. Thereafter, the council, which has established its secretariat at Don Bosco College of Engineering, is pursuing various programmes, including providing a small grant and other assistance for the patenting process,” Noronha added.
Manovikas School management also expressed great happiness over the students securing the patent and wished the two students the best.
The school referred to the Centre for Science, Technology, and Innovation (CSTI) had set up in 2015 and since then, students have been exposed to various facets of innovation, including incubation.
The school management pointed out that CSTI also has an advanced observatory, exposing students to astronomy, while it also features a maker laboratory, an Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), a coding lab, along with 3D printing, and other facilities, including a robotics building.
“With all these facilities and two full-time engineering faculty to guide the students, the early footsteps in fostering an innovation culture at school being created by the school,” the school management added.
