The Indian schooling and education system is often criticized by experts, parents and students alike, for focusing on rote learning instead of providing practical knowledge of subjects, which can be applied by the students in the career path they choose to walk on, later in their lives. This is applicable to most subjects and streams whether it is maths, science or arts. Most of the times, the information provided in textbooks and by the teachers, is also very vague in nature.
However, Hyderabad based 17 year old teenager Siddharth Mandala, who’s just out of his high school and aspires to become a tech entrepreneur, applied the concepts of physics and coding that he had learned in school, to invent what is known as an ‘ElectroShoe’. The device is for women, to use it against molesters and rapists. Siddharth claims that the ‘shoe’ can give out an electric shock of 0.1 Ampere while sending an alert for help to the police, your friends and your family.
Mandala describes the invention and the technology behind it, in detail. He says, “The shoe was created using a unique circuit board that uses footsteps to charge itself with the help of a concept called the ‘piezoelectric’ effect’. The more the user walks, the more energy is generated and stored in a rechargeable battery.” He has applied for a patent of this technology, and wants to launch his product in the market to test how successful it can be.
He says, “After the patent is obtained, I plan to approach start-up incubators in the city to get a better understanding of how my product will fare in the real market and what changes I have to make to the prototype. I need to focus on the designing of the product in order to make it appealing in a market space”. On being asked how the device will work for a user he says, “All a woman needs to do is ensure that the battery is sufficiently charged. When the shoe makes contact with an attacker’s body, the attacker will be electrocuted.”
Siddharth Mandala also opens up about the motivation behind him, designing this product. He was inspired to create a self-defence device for women, after the infamous 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape incident happened in Delhi. It’s definitely heartening to see the young boy’s concern and awareness about an important social issue, and his determination to provide a solution to it. Mandala’s efforts have been admired by the likes of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, C&MD of Biocon. He has also received a letter of appreciation from Kadiyam Srihari, who is the Education Minister and Deputy CM of Telangana.
