Some students from the HCM City University of Technology have cut expenses and lived frugally to fund their own scientific research projects, and had some good results.

Le Nguyen Tuan and his electric wheelchair.

“Once I went to my friend’s home in Binh Dinh, I met a disabled girl. Witnessing her difficulties in operating her wheelchair, I thought of manufacturing of an electric wheelchair,” said Le Nguyen Tuan, a student from the Electricity-Electronics Faculty.

From his sympathy for the disabled girl, Tuan instituted his own research of a manual wheelchair to design an electric wheelchair. He put all his savings into equipment. Nearly four months later, Tuan presented the electric wheelchair to the disabled girl in Binh Dinh, whom he had met just that once.

Dr. Ngo Cao Cuong, chief of the Electricity-Electronics Faculty, said that this vehicle is very helpful for the disabled because it can run on various topographies, from flat to sloping areas or in crowded sites. It is very easy to control the vehicle with its automatic control board. The vehicle can be produced on a large scale.

Students Nguyen Van Thanh and Ngo Phuong Chan from the Automation and Robot Faculty invented equipment to protect vehicle tires from nails. They were inspired by their fatigue at having to fix flats.

Nguyen Van Thanh (left) and Ngo Phuong Chan assembling anti-nail equipment on a motorbike.

Thanh and Chan installed a magnet piece under their motorbikes to attract nails. “The magnet piece is wrapped in aluminum and it works thanks to the 220V electric current from the motorbike’s spark-plug. When the motorbike runs on suspect roads, the rider can turn on the switch to activate the magnet piece to attract nails,” Chan said.

The two students are working on this equipment to increase the power of the electric current to better attract nails and to not harm the operation of spark-plugs.

During a practicum in a rural commune in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, student Tran Minh Tuong from the Automation and Robot Faculty became aware of how the hard job of planting rice is. This made him think of an automatic sowing machine.

“The first thing I had to learn is how to work like a farmer so I could understand their sowing technique,” Tuong said.

After many sleepless nights, Tuong manufactured his first sowing machine. But on the first trial, the machine didn’t work well when seeds were not planted at the designated places.

The student spent more time fixing the problem and finally, he produced an “obedient” machine. Tuong sold the machine to the farmer family where he lived during the trial period at a very cheap price. “Local farmers like my machine very much. Some asked me why I didn’t stay at their houses during my trial,” Tuong said proudly.

VietNamNet/TT