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Uddhab Bharali

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Uddhab Kumar Bharali
Uddhab Kumar Bharali
Born (1962-04-07) 7 April 1962 (age 62)
North Lakhimpur, Assam, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materJorhat Engineering College
Known forLow cost, eco-friendly innovations (eg.- pomegranate deseeder)s[1][2]
AwardsPresident’s Grassroots Innovation Award
Shristi Samman Award
NASA Tech Create the Future Design Contest (2012, 2013)
Rashtriya Ekta Samman
Padma Shri (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, Technology

Uddhab Bharali (born 7 April 1962) is an Indian inventor from the Lakhimpur district of Assam.[3][4] Bharali is credited with more than 160 innovations, starting from the late 1980s.[1] In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Shri.[5][1]

Early life and education

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Bharali was born on 7 April 1962 in the Lakhimpur district of Assam.[1] His father was a businessman.[3]

He studied in the Government Higher Secondary School of North Lakhimpur. He then went on to study Mechanical Engineering in Jorhat Engineering College, Institute of Engineers Madras Chapter in Chennai. He left engineering school in 1988 because his family was unable to support his education due to their debt.[5]

Career

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In 1988, while his family was in debt, he decided to start a polythene cover making business catering to Tea Estates in Assam. Instead of spending about ₹570,000 (US$6,800) on buying a machine, he designed his own machine[3] for about ₹67,000 (US$800).[6] Bharali was then determined to continue building innovations.[6][7]

Bharali is known for his invention of a pomegranate de-seeder.[1][8] On 3 July 2012, Bharali qualified for an online voting competition for the NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal for his design of a bench-top pomegranate de-seeder.[9] Bharali has also invented low-cost peeler machines for betel nut, cassava, garlic, jatropha, coconut and safed musli, and re-designed the Assamese paddy grinder.[1][8] He also invented a low-cost bamboo processing machine.[1][8] These agricultural inventions only require one person to operate.[1]

Bharali has also focused on inventions that assist people with disabilities, including devices that help with activities of daily living, such as eating and writing.[10] In 2019, he began working on an invention he describes as a "moving lifter", which helps a person move from a wheelchair to a bed or toilet.[1] In 2020, he presented a moving lifter attached to a portable wheelchair to a 15-year-old boy and announced he was making additional lifters for students in the Mangaldoi and Jorhat district of Assam, and that he had released the schematics on YouTube so anyone could build the device.[1]

Bharali runs the machine design and research centre U.K.B Agrotech at Lakhimpur.[5] He was a speaker in TEDx at ISM Dhanbad held in October 2014.

Honors and awards

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Uddhab Bharali was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Assam Agricultural University (AAU) in 2014 and an honorary PhD from Kaziranga University . He has also received:[11]

  • SRISTI Samman, 2006[12]
  • National Grassroots Innovation Award from the National Innovation Foundation, 2009[1]
  • Meritorious Invention Award 2010, NRDC,
  • Certificate of Merit, NRDC, 2010, from the government of India,
  • Prayukty Ratna Title in 2010 from Asom Sahitya Seva,
  • Shilpa Ratna Title in 2012 by Asom Satra Mahasava,
  • Rashtriya Ekta Samman, in 2013,
  • NICT Perfect 10 Award, ABP Media Group, and The Telegraph,
  • Chief Minister Best Awardee award in 2013, from the Government of Assam,
  • ERDF excellence award in 2014,
  • Pratidin Time Media achiever award in 2015,
  • Kamala Kanta Saikia National award in 2016,
  • Asom Gourav award in 2016,
  • Romoni Gabhoru award in 2016, from Atasu Assam,
  • Swayamsiddh Shri Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman in 2017, by JSPL,
  • Winner Of Engineering Design, in a contest organised by NASA, Tech Briefs Media called "Create The Future Design Contest 2012" for a bench-top pomegranate de-seeder - which was placed 2nd in the Top Ten Most Popular Inventions category[13]
  • Winner NASA tech brief "Create the Future Design contest 2013", for the invention of a detention chair for a mentally challenged person,
  • Qualified for NASA tech brief "Create the Future Design contest 2014" for the invention of a feeding device for people without hands,
  • Qualifier – World Tech Award in 2012, for the invention of a mini tea plant,
  • Pioneer Award, in 2017,
  • Excellence Award in 2018 from the Mahatma Gandhi University in Meghalaya,
  • Padma Shri Award in 2019.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bhattacherjee, Niloy (3 December 2020). "Ace Innovator Uddhab Bharali Gifts 'Moving Lifter' to 15-Year-Old on International Day of Disabled Persons". News18. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Uddhab Bharali, the man from Assam with more than 159 incredible inventions".
  3. ^ a b c "AMAZING: Meet the Indian engineer with 98 INNOVATIONS!". Rediff India. 16 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Assam innovator in Nasa prize shortlist". Seven Sister's Post India. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ a b c Agarwala, Tora (26 January 2019). "Meet Assam's Padma Shri winners: surgeon Illias Ali and innovator Uddhab Bharali". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b Chopra, Akshat (3 August 2012). "His experiments with life". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  7. ^ "This College Dropout from Assam Has over 140 Agricultural Innovations to His Credit". Better India. 2 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "National Third Award, POMEGRANATE DE-SEEDER" (PDF). National Innovation Foundation. 2 January 2006.
  9. ^ "Innovator selected for Nasa award". The Telegraph. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  10. ^ Rice, Carolyn (7 November 2017). "The non-stop problem solver who loves to invent". BBC News. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  11. ^ "AAU honour for innovator". The Telegraph India. 16 March 2014.
  12. ^ "SRISTI Samman". www.sristi.org. SRISTI. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Indian Uddhab Bharali's pomegranate deseeder wins Nasa prize". BBC News. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
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