Srinath Ramakkrushnan

I spent the summer of 2009 at SELCO, as a part of the Engineers for Social Impact (E4SI) fellowship. I worked on building a multifunction paddy dehusker/dry-grinder/oil-expeller machine at SELCO's Incubation Lab in Ujire. I greatly cherish my stint at SELCO because of two reasons in particular: 
(i) "Engineering for Social Impact": Being an extremely passionate person in the social sector, the internship at SELCO Labs gave me my first real break - Engineering need based solutions for the rural community. I think when passion meets need, magic is certain! (ii) "Learning by Doing": My lab had a strong focus in delivering rather than just designing. Most of the learnings in designing my machine came from rustic field surveys and interactions with local paddy farmers. Trust me, online literature on rural technologies is highly inadequate! Innovations, ideas and actions came from different sources - automobile workshops, hardware stores, engineering college workshops and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). SELCO gave me a unique and highly satisfying summer. You get a lot of independence to translate your ideas to action, and I think there is nothing more rewarding!