-Reshma Ravishanker

An innovative trash collector designed by students from the Government High School, Malleshwaram is among the projects that have been selected as part of the Atal Tinkering Marathon.

The government school houses an Atal Tinkering Lab from where over 30 projects were submitted for the marathon, of which one was selected.

This year, 300 projects from Atal Tinkering Labs from across the country have been selected by a jury constituted by the Niti Ayog and Atal Tinkering Mission to help students turn a prototype into a business idea.

Mythra P B, a science teacher from the school and in-charge of the Atal Tinkering Lab said that she, along with three students – Amith Paramanik, Reehan A and Mohammed Reehan worked on the project.

“The trash can is a smart one and is apt for use during the pandemic. The dustbin is fitted with sensors which open the lid as one approach to dump waste. Dry waste is collected here. The bin is fitted with a GPS and GPRS. Signals are sent to civic authorities when the dustbin is full and it is time for collection. If, for some reason, timely collection does not happen, we have installed a shredder in the bin which will shred the dry waste into smaller bits, making way for more intake,” Mythra explained, “During the pandemic, when everyone is uncomfortable to touch dustbins, this is a good idea.”

The ideas that have been selected among the 300 will be further developed. The top projects are incubated at Atal Incubation Centres or students are offered internships in corporates who hand-hold them to convert it into a business idea. Entrepreneurship guidance and start-up assistance is provided later.

The government students have now developed a prototype and will soon apply for a patent according to the school.

Karnataka’s higher education minister and Malleshwram constituency’s elected representative Dr CN Ashwath Narayan took to social media to confirm that these students will avail an internship at the Atal Incubation Centre in Sri Krishnadevaraya University.  

Also read: Bengaluru’s government school to participate in satellite launch