The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : He aspires to use existing technology to make economically viable products

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Thursday, Apr 17, 2008
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Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

He aspires to use existing technology to make economically viable products

Amutha Kannan

Saravana’s ultimate goal is to establish a semi-conductor unit to make integrated circuits applicable to various fields

PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

STUDENT INNOVATOR: M. Saravana, final year student of Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, with his product innovations. —

COIMBATORE: He is a distinction holder in academics. His achievements in product innovation and paper presentations run into pages. One of his innovations has been made into a product and is being marketed by a company. And, he has not even completed his engineering course.

For M. Saravana, a final year engineering student of the Department of Electronics and Communication of Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, dabbling in electronics began even in school. His special interest includes industrial embedded system designs, VLSI system design and all kinds of circuits. “When I used to get toys as a child, I used to immediately break them apart to see what electronic circuits were inside. When in Plus Two, I began visiting industries along with my cousin who was working in a related field. I learnt to design small projects. Once I joined college, I used the laboratory extensively during the weekends to work on projects,” says Saravana.

Even though his various innovations, projects and papers have received national and international acclaim, the one product that has been commercially accepted is his embedded power saving system he designed for Photonic System to be used in auto looms. “The system is fitted into the electronic control panel of the auto loom, which helps save power to almost 20 per cent.”

Saravana’s product is in maximum use by small-scale industries in Erode district. The company also pays him a royalty of 40 per cent for the product.

Coming from a home of a single parent, Saravana attributes his success to the efforts of his mother, a stenographer, who “in spite of being a heart patient, brought me up single-handedly from the age of four after the death of my father.”

Regardless of the financial constraints, his mother Parimala Maruthamuthu bought her young son project books, magnetic kits and electronic circuits to develop his interest in electronics.

Once in college, his professors and classmates encouraged him in his endeavours. Some of his classmates even join in executing some of his projects.

He continued executing his projects and presenting papers with the assistance of the prize money he won from competitions and paper presentations and also with some support from the companies for which he executed small projects. This way Saravana has been successful in continuing his penchant for electronics. He has also set up a small laboratory in his house.

Having been chosen through campus interview to work for Wipro in its VLSI Design Division, Saravana is still looking for avenues to channel his talent. He is currently working on a Brain Computer Interface to process brain signals using sophisticated electronic equipment to identify neuro-physiological activities.

His ultimate goal is to establish a semi-conductor industry to make integrated circuits applicable to all fields. “I am not looking to make expensive innovations. I like to use existing technology to make economically viable products affordable to the common man. The industry that I have planned will help me achieve this goal by which I can serve people,” concludes Saravana.

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