Indeed, a short conversation with the youngsters, who are preparing for the imminent national finals, debunks the myth that all kids think of these days is fun, food and television. These innovators with a purpose have their future mapped out and, most importantly, care about representing their country at the international level with their inventions, too.

A total of 30 projects were displayed at Intel STDF 2001 and were judged by eminent scientists.

Mr Shiladitya Mukhopadhyay and Mr Manvesh Vyas of the Atomic Energy Junior College prepared an innovative touch screen that is economical and easy to use.

Mr Mukhopadhyay plays team spokesperson. "There was nothing in particular that inspired us. We wanted to make something that could display information on request, a device that interacted with the computer without requiring a keyboard or mouse. Of course, such devices do exist, but we can neither afford nor replicate them. So we had to make something different."

"Our knowledge of electronics made everything fall into place. Our project was a working model of an electronically operated and computer based touch-screen. The difference is that it works on totally different principles and very different technology from existing touch-screens," he says.

The duo call it the simulated touch-screen, because, technically speaking, there is no screen which responds to touch. But the effect of the system is the same as of conventional touch screens.

Mr Mukhopadhyay claims their invention was specifically designed for daily use. "We had set out to make an affordable and low-end alternative to an existing high-tech device. If marketed on a large scale, the simulated touch screen can be made to replace expensive touchscreens or applied in areas where it would be greatly beneficial. Its applications range from general information display kiosks. It can be easily set up in any location with a computer, and would not require a human controller to operate it. The display can be made to order with even rural languages being shown, since the information is static, they can be permanently programmed."

Its main feature is the extremely low cost of manufacture, which is a direct result of using simple technology. The prototype the students have built cost them Rs 900, while touch screens in our country come for nothing less than Rs 15,000-20,000 apiece.

Another winning team is that of Mr Bharat Mhatre and Mr Amit K Sowani, 16-year-old students of Ramnivas Ruia College. Mr Mhatre says that they wanted to provide an effective system for the recovery of crude oil spilt on the ocean surface. "The project is really a simple application of the adhesive properties of aluminium and polypropylene. Crude oil sticks to aluminium or polypropylene and is later scraped off with a scraper. We have proposed absorbents made out of sawdust, straw and cloth to absorb that oil which cannot be collected."

He continues, "The most challenging moment was how to apply the method used in industries to separate oil and alcohol practically in the oil spill recovery process. That required tedious, time-consuming and complex experiments. Also, we faced quite a few problems in making the brush skimmer for collecting the oil spilt near the shore, and where our first model could not be applied because of insufficient depth."

The Ruia students' model has large-scale application in India and all over the world. They are looking to file a patent. "There are various deposits of crude oil from where the oil is obtained, like Bombay High. Also, India imports oil on a large scale. In both instances, oil spills on the ocean surface. It is here that our project will be of significance."

Mr Mhatre says that the overall cost of making a practical model will be very low since they are making use of only aluminium and plastic in the first model, and polypropylene and tin in the second model. So India can make good use of it.

He says, "We are trying to see if the model can be used to collect industrial effluents discharged in water bodies, or other chemicals and substances near docks and ports. We want to use teflon scrapers instead of plastic, but the cost factor will play a major role here. Another thing is to find more species of bacteria that degrade crude oil, and see which is most efficient."

Thirteen-year-old Mr Yash Joshi won the Intel award in the individual category. He has applied for an Indian patent for his plastic recycling machine and has plans for a foreign patent as well. "In spite of all the talk about plastic recycling, there is no household machine for the job. I believe I have an original invention which has technical and commercial significance worldwide," he says.

He wants to pre-process voluminous, bulky or contaminated plastic scrap at source to produce recyclable noodles or sticks. This will help recycle thin gauge polyethylene bags or sheets, plastic cups and thermocole packing material which is not recycled in the present system owing to its low mass.

"One can ensure that this device is installed everywhere, in homes, shops, hotels, wherever plastic scrap is generated. The invention can take various physical forms based on each specific application. My prototype can process about 10 kg of plastic a day." The cost of Joshi's machine is a mere Rs 400 and the electricity bill would come to about Rs 10 a day. The reprocessed plastic could be sold for Rs 10-20, depending upon the quality and uniformity of the raw material.

He says his machine is economically viable as a cottage or footpath industry. "More sophisticated machines on the same principle can be constructed for recycling large volumes of segregated waste. These are also economically viable and will be able to pay back investments in a few months. For example, a single airport generates about 2.5 tons of recyclable plastic waste per day. Recycling it by using my invention is easily possible within the airport premises," says Joshi.

"The motivating factor was to do something to stop, or at least control, pollution by plastic. Let's find a solution to the problem using technology instead of bans." Well, whatever the solution, may it work.