Sachin Kukke, an 18-year-old student of first year BE (mechanical) at the BMS College of Engineering, has emerged the regional winner from India in the ‘YouTube Space Lab’ global science competition that required participants to design a science experiment that can be performed in space, and upload a two-minute explanatory video on YouTube.

Each winner will get a zero-gravity flight. Shy and reticent, Kukke described the win as a “dream come true”. The second son of a head constable attached to Basavanagudi police station, he said: “I had never imagined that I would get to experience zero gravity in my life.

I had hoped to reach the final six but was not so sure. I’m really looking forward to meeting the other finalists,” Kukke said.

His was one of the six entries chosen from 60 proposals uploaded on YouTube and voted for by 1.5 lakh users. It was among the final nine entries from India and adjudged the best in the Asia Pacific region. In total, there were 60 in the final list.

Apart from Bangalore, other Indian finalists were from Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and New Delhi.

Kukke’s winning experiment was based on ferro-fluids and aims to measure their thermal conductivity in micro gravity. Kukke said his concept is about understanding whether liquid magnets can help human beings travel deeper into space, and also whether these can be used to make advanced cooling systems.