Indian Railways Engineer Wins MIT award | Fusion - WeRIndia

An Indian Railways Engineer has won the prestigious MIT award for his innovative idea. Ashwani Kumar Upadhyaya, a 47-year-old engineer showed his creativity and talent with caterpillar trains. These trains are unique because of their less weight and elevated train coaches. They can run at speeds up to 100 km/hr and are even suitable for passengers in residential areas.

Ashwani is a 1997-batch officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service. He works at the Centre for Railway Information Systems in New Delhi. He went on a study leave as a PhD scholar in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. With this innovations, he succeeded in winning a global competition on innovations that was organized by MIT. He competed with about 500 other entries in this world famous competition.

The idea to make such a caterpillar train was developed by Ashwani along with a fellow PhD scholar Emil Jacob. The trains are so called because they would have wheels both below and above the coaches. By doing so, the trains will be able to run on the tracks as well has hang from them. The tracks would be laid with the support of poles bent to form arches.

The entire system of train would of course run on electricity and the coaches will also installed with a backup battery to be used in case of emergencies like power failure. Each coach would be able to seat 20 people. Since the trains are small, they can also be used with ease in residential areas too. They are made small to allow the trains to be stacked vertically at the depot.

Such a unique innovation made by an Indian engineer deserves a lot of recognition. His win of the prestigious MIT award brings honor to the country and himself as well. Ashwani is now planning to educate many academicians and town planners about the benefits of this train.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia