This page contains a list of interesting engineering and scientific problems noted by the founder of this website. These problems either relate to the fundamental sciences or practical problems present right before our eyes. Solutions may exist for some of the problems but who knows, there can be many more simple yet better and exciting solutions!
Now, is it necessary that new solutions to these problems fit into the definition of an invention? The honest answer is, may or may not be. Our article “Idea, Invention and Patent” provides sufficient information to find out what is invention and what is not.
We expect this list to help some curious minds to find their way to the world of inventions. Anybody, if wishes so, can pick up and work on these problems.
| Number | Problem |
| 1 | To biomimic the water transport mechanism of plants to develop a silent and efficient pump. |
| 2 | Is it possible to demonstrate Seebeck effect using liquid conductors or a combination of solid-liquid conductors? |
| 3 | To significantly increase the rate of water condensation in solar still (less heat loss, more efficiency). |
| 4 | Solar cell material – to replace silicon with cheaper materials (may be carbon). |
| 5 | To develop solar cell capable of converting the infra-red portion of solar radiation into electricity. |
| 6 | To develop a motor using electrokinetic effect. |
| 7 | To utilise photosynthesis like mechanism for electricity generation. |
| 8 | To manufacture thin plastic like material (as an alternative to polythene) from waste carbohydrate. |
| 9 | To eliminate the need of gearboxes in helicopters, which are troublesome at times. |
| 10 | To significantly reduce the heat of evaporation of water. |
| 11 | To significantly reduce the water usage for cleaning clothes and utensils. |
| 12 | To generate AC power directly from solar cell. |
| 13 | To develop affordable and harmless way of wireless electricity transfer. |
| 14 | To develop suitable alternative to Pitot tube for aircraft speed sensing application (in use for more than 100 years!). |
| 15 | To develop better alternatives to the indirect thrust indicating parameters (traditionally N1 or EPR) for the aircraft gas turbine engines. |
| 16 | To develop cheap non-contact type thermometer for human body temperature measurement. |
| 17 | To develop an affordable, non-invasive equipment for detecting/monitoring lung congestion. |
| 18 | To develop an affordable, non-invasive equipment for monitoring blood sugar levels. |
| 19 | To identify a method for direct measurement of static temperature in a fluid flow, replacing the indirect computation through stagnation temperature. |
| 20 | To develop a device for automatic removal of wrinkles in clothes (do away with the painful ironing of cloths!) |
| 21 | To identify supplementary heat transfer mechanisms in heavily loaded helicopter/windmill gearboxes (traditionally oil cooled). |
| 22 | To biomimic nature’s flapping wing mechanism for micro air vehicle design in search of more efficient flights. |
| 23 | To develop a simple device to reduce the effort to install and uninstall hose on regulator and gas oven for domestic use. |
| 24 | To develop an affordable automatic cooking machine for basic foods (just select the option, add the ingredients and then forget!). |
| 25 | To develop a simple and effective method for arsenic removal from drinking water (remember, your RO machines cannot remove all types of arsenic ions). |
| 26 | To biomimic water birds’ (like swan) sieve inside mouth to remove mud, for water filtering devices. |
| 27 | To develop a simple, hand-hold device to identify artificial egg and rotten eggs. |
| 28 | To improve the domestic gas ovens to maximize use of the combustion heat. |
| 29 | To develop a technology to prevent one from taking a photo of his/her computer screen (to allow views but prevent unauthorised data capturing). |
| 30 | To develop a simple, hand-hold sensing system for detecting arsenic, fluoride in drinking water (possibly nitrates, calcium, magnesium, iron etc. too). |
| 31 | To develop a technology to reduce and safely dispose waste water from water filtration system like RO. |
| 32 | To biomimic the heat transfer mechanism in human body for better heat engines. |
| 33 | To develop a technology to prevent ear-ache in passenger aircraft (it happens with many passengers, doesn’t it?). |
| 34 | To improve the common toothbrush so that after cleaning it does not hold any moisture (to eliminate chances of growth of microorganisms). |