IN the department of chemical engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, students have made a parabolic solar cooker.

The cooker concentrates sun rays and can heat up anything up to 170 degrees C while water boils at 100 degrees C and we cook our daily food at 100 degrees C.

We can cook all kinds of food using this cooker. It only needs a dish antenna and aluminium foil to cover its upper surface. This will only cost about Rs3,000 but it will set us free from cutting, chopping and burning wood. It is also environmental-friendly.

They have also made efficient biogas units and solar geysers. All these things are simple but profitable.

Students spend time and money to develop inventions by giving presentations to convince their supervisor that it is vital for the development of society.

Once they get grades, they put these away in a dark corner of the department (as we have in our department). There it corrodes and turns to scrap.

If we eventually have to make scrape, why take up the futile exercise? The goal of this work should not be only grade and passing examinations. We need to benefit from such inventions in our daily life.

Coordination should exist between universities and the common people. The university administration should organise events with the help of students to exhibit these simple techniques to the common people.

M. Younas Badwani

Dir (Lower)