Page 408 - AWSAR 2.0

384 || AWSAR Awarded Popular Science Stories - 2019
referred journals. This revelation was an eye- opener for me. I wondered if just one institute is spearheading research on this scale, what would be the overall scenario, considering all equally potent institutes in the country. I rightly concluded that despite the high number of patents and a huge number of research publications, the day-to-day problems faced by a common man were not being adequately addressed. It meant that the rate of securing patents and publication was much more than the actual implementation and grassroots application. Based on this factual observation, I decided to choose a real-world, existing challenge. I thought I would develop an innovative product that would fulfill the needs of the industry or society. I, then earnestly started looking for a problem for which I could develop a solution in the lab and commoditize it in the market for widespread social impact.
Incidentally, around the same time, my guide attended a meeting in
the Kolhapur Foundry Cluster,
where he learned that Indian
foundries dumped a huge
amount of waste foundry
sand (WFS) every year. This
dumped sand is quite harmful
to both human health and
the environment. Moreover,
there is no techno-commercial
solution available in the market
to process it effectively. My
excitement began to grow
as I heard out the rest of the
grim reality. And, the germ of
an idea began to form in my
mind: why should I not help
solve this critical issue faced by
foundries? The thought of engaging in possible innovation aimed at preserving our fragile ecology was challenging by any reckoning. I then plunged myself into the research and development for making foundries eco-friendly by reclaiming WFS.
After reviewing assorted journal papers, patents, research articles, short communication, technical magazines, and books and further discussions with my guide, I started on the path of a sustainable foundry. I was surprised to learn that there was almost no research going on WFS across the country. It was an observation that shook me up. In the meantime, I came to know that some institutions such as The Institute of Indian Foundrymen and foundry clusters such as Kolhapur Foundry Cluster and Coimbatore Foundry Cluster were working in the larger interests of the foundry industry. I rushed there and had several interactions, only to find out that they were more interested in growing the foundry business rather than making it sustainable.
I then decided to approach the problem from a different perspective. I set out on my journey, Sand Yatra, visiting the major foundry clusters located at Kolhapur, Coimbatore,
Rajkot, Belgaum, Jalandhar, and Sangli. Crisscrossing the nation, I traveled around 12,000 km and conducted 107 interviews of the major stakeholders like foundry owners, quality assurance managers, heads of the State Pollution Control Boards, and sand suppliers. This journey constituted the legwork for my research, which was aimed at identifying and quantifying the real existing issues with foundry
sandT.he Sand Yatra turned out to be quite fruitful, enlightening my knowledge about foundries.
I found out that about 80% of the cast metal objects around us, from bathroom taps to airplane gearboxes, were manufactured in foundries using the casting method. The foundry industry in India started in 1959, and
Speaking on the occasion, the Director of IIT Bombay shared some thought-provoking statistics on researches conducted by the elite Institute. He mentioned that in the previous year alone, about 100 patents were filed and around 1300 articles were published in various referred journals.