Malvika Tiwari
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| Malvika Tiwari |
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n May this year, Malvika Tiwari, a student of Kanpur’s St Mary’s Convent, bested more than 1,400 competitors in the 13-20 years age group in Phoenix, Arizona to win the third prize (individual category) at the 56th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world’s largest pre-college science fair, where budding scientists jostle for over $ 3 million in prize money. She was awarded the $5,000 in prize money for designing a foot-operated steering device for automotive two wheelers. Eight other Indian students were short-listed for ISEF.The inspiration of 16-year-old Malvika is her father Kali Vinod Tiwari, disabled by a childhood attack of polio. Not one to take things lying down, Tiwari Sr. designed India’s first auto cart for challenged people in 1980 which earned him the National Award for the Welfare of the Handicapped, a gold medal and certificate from then President Giani Zail Singh. "My father is my mentor, tutor and inspiration," says Malvika proudly. She is equally inspired by her mother Rama who teaches mentally challenged children at the Army School in Kanpur.
The prize winning invention is an auto-gear device that fitted onto a scooter enables those whose upper limbs are disabled to steer automotive scooters. "This auto-geared model has two parts — the support and the main device. The support comprises extra tyres on each side and a back bracket to keep the person upright while driving. The steering device is an attachment, which can be fitted to geared scooters. It is similar to the steering mechanism of motor cars," explains Malvika.
The idea of foot-controlled scooters came to her in class VIII when as a visitor to science exhibitions and workshops she was struck by the conspicuous absence of automotive transport for those with upper limb disabilities. This was followed by qualitative research with 50 disabled people who had to visualise a vehicle for themselves. "It took a six month survey based on an unstructured questionnaire to come up with my invention," she says of the apparatus, which is being used by four people in Kanpur and is dedicated to the Disabled Club of India.
Beneath a teenager sensitive to the plight of the physically challenged is a vivacious, multifaceted girl who captains the St. Mary’s basketball team, scored 85 percent in the class X board exams and aspires to qualify as an aeronautical engineer.
Vidya Pandit (Lucknow)
Piyush Srivastava
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| Piyush Srivastava |
Class XII topper, state engineering exam topper and now IIT-JEE 2005 topper. That’s the score card of Piyush Srivastava (17) — a student of Boys’ High School and College, Allahabad, UP. Right now this young prodigy is undergoing a gruelling 11-hour daily training regimen at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai in preparation for the International Physics Olympiad scheduled to be held in Spain on July 27, where he takes on the world’s sharpest scientists.
Srivastava, who created history with his scholastic performance also achieved a dream score card in his ICSE 2005 exams — physics: 100; maths: 99; English: 94; computer science: 99 and chemistry: 90. All this without ever attending any coaching classes. All he had to back him, says the teenager, were his class XII course books and interactive sessions with his teachers and principal. "My teachers are my guiding light and I’m indebted to them," he admits. The youngster also ranked second in the State Engineering Exam conducted by UP Technical University. Unsurprisingly, he acknowledges that "My hobby is to study. My favourite subject is maths and I love solving maths problems."
Consequently, cracking the joint entrance exam (JEE) of the seven IITs (conducted in April by IIT Kharagpur) was a cinch though Srivastava admits he never quite expected to top the exam written by over 200,000 aspirants (of whom only 3,500 toppers will be admitted) this year. Though his parents have an undistinguished background — mother Punita is a home maker while father Anil Kumar is a regional transport officer posted in Bahraich — he had a role model in his brother who is reading electronics engineering at IIT-Mumbai. "It’s from my brother Mukesh that I learned to develop an inquisitive mind and learn through experimentation," he acknowledges.
Srivastava has useful advice for students preparing for entrance exams. "Study consistently through the year. Set aside a fixed number of hours every day for study rather than leave things to the last minute. Also, it’s a fallacy that enrolling in a coaching class is essential to see you through entrance exams. If your fundamentals are sound and you work according to a plan, there’s no way you won’t succeed," he says. Srivastava also stresses the importance of developing a good rapport with teachers whose "help should be sought immediately if there’s any confusion".
According to this perennial examinations topper, it’s also advisable for students to pursue extra-curricular activities "to de-stress and take one’s mind off studies". An avid reader of fiction, he also tunes into news and current affairs programmes on television and likes to travel with his family.
All set to enter IIT-Delhi in 2006, quite clearly, this whiz kid will go places.
Neeta Lal (Delhi)