Mulugu youth Vollala Saikumar has 300 innovations in his kitty

Hyderabad: For a 21-year-old bubbling youngster, boasting of having 300 inventions to his credit, most of which await patent, may sound something out of the ordinary and near-improbable.

But then, Vollala Saikumar from Palampet in Mulugu district is a living example of what even a fresh-out-of-college student can achieve if driven by determination and the obsession to pursue the chosen path.

Inventing is something that comes naturally to this ‘entrepreneur’, who makes it a point to create low-cost inventions that are helpful to the common man. Saikumar has more than 300 innovations under his kitty, the most recent one being the ‘Water-bike’.

Speaking to NewsMeter about his invention, he said, “The water-bike functions with calcium carbonate and water. This particular combination will release a gas, and the bike runs on this. With two litres of gas, the bike can run up to 80 kms.”

However, Saikumar admits that the money crunch is affecting him from going forward with developing better inventions. While the water-bike cost him Rs 20,000 to make, the patent rights will add to the cost.

“I dismantled the bike later because I could not afford to get a patent for it. People could try to create one of their seeing my prototype and claim it as their own. I’m waiting for some funds to make a more modified version of the bike,” he said.

The entrepreneur has been making innovations from the time he was a second standard student. Many of his inventions are inspired from ordinary situations. For instance, in order to help his father, who is a toddy-tapper, he created a machine to assist him in climbing the rather slippery tree.

“I was always interested in going behind the technical details of the machines. It’s something I have been doing since childhood, so inventing is not something special for me,” says Saikumar.

Some of his other inventions include the ‘Safety-Watch’, which women can wear. In case of an attack, the woman may press a button, which will sense and transfer the shock towards the attacker. The invention is still in the development stage.

The other inventions by this entrepreneur include AC helmet, the ‘Cooling Cooler’, Solar pump among many others. “The ‘Cooling Cooler’ is a machine that serves dual purposes-it functions like a refrigerator, and at the same time, as a cooler for the room.

The solar pump is mainly for irrigation, but runs on solar power,” says the entrepreneur, who won the ‘Best Innovator’ award from Mulugu district, from the State Government last August.

Talking about his plans for the future, the inventor said that he is writing exams and searching for a job.

“Of course, I will keep inventing newer and equally resourceful products. But the point is it should be useful to the ordinary people, and help them in their day-to-day life. The innovation should be low-cost so that even poor people can afford it. That is my goal,” says Saikumar.