Mangaluru student develops iron box that can heat up in just a second

Mind-boggling device

Twenty-year-old Mohammed Sehil E, a final-year student at PA Engineering College here, claims to have developed the world’s fastest-heating iron box that can heat up in just a second (154 degrees celsius) against a normal iron box that takes about 57 seconds.

Named Irene (after his sister Irene Fabia), the iron box has 18 features, including ‘smart zero heat’ (instant cooling when removed from fabric), ‘auto fabric temperature setting’ (automatically senses temperature required for the fabric — silk, nylon, linen, jeans or wool; works using artificial intelligence, a robotic technology), built-in power backup (works for 15 minutes in case of power failure), automatic on/off (turns on when comes in touch with the fabric and instantly turns off when removed), wireless, lightweight (less than 250 grams), consumes less power (just 300 W compared to other iron boxes which consume 1,500 W), portable, cost-effective (around Rs 995 apiece), child safety (doesn’t burn even if handled without caution), has triple precision tip (easily blends into folds, pockets and buttons). And, it can also charge a smartphone simultaneously while ironing.

Sehil has patented his invention — his second patent. He got the patent for his first project called ‘Vitamin C’, an induction cooktop, which can heat any dish in any vessel, be it plastic, ceramic, glass or even a clay pot.

Sehil says that unlike the usual induction cooktop, ‘Vitamin C’ can generate fire, too. At the same time, one can charge smartphones just by placing them over the induction cooktop. “Regular induction cooktops cannot sense the temperature, pressure cooker whistles and errors such as overflowing (of milk) whereas everything is automatically carried out in my invention without any manual effort,” he told DH.

The functions can be controlled from a distance of about 7 metres with an Android app. It can also send an alert when the food is cooked and turn on the exhaust fan if the room is filled with smoke, besides controlling the kitchen light in such a way that whenever a person enters the kitchen, it will automatically turn on the light and remain on till the person is present in the kitchen. ‘Vitamin C’ also has a 16 GB backup feasibility. In case your smartphone or tablet runs out of memory, you can simply transfer files to the cooktop!

Sehil won the Global Innovation Award instituted by the Kerala government, which carried a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, the ‘Startup Pitch Award’ from the Karnataka government, the ‘Best Startup Concept Award’ from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), and won the first prize at an international conference on startup and entrepreneurship.

How does he get ideas? “I am a keen observer,” he said. “Both my inventions were the problems I faced in my hostel.” He says there are 95% jobseekers but only 5% job creators and he wants to maintain a balance between jobseekers and job creators through his student startup firm ‘Invia Technology’. A native of Malappuram district, Kerala, he can be contacted at 8907010557 or [e-mail]