Bhubaneswar, Nov. 11: City girl Priyanka Panda received the 2016 IGNITE award for an innovation that makes motorists aware of the ways in which they contribute to air pollution.

"Most of the times, while travelling, people do not really care to turn off the car's engine when they are at traffic signals or short halts. This releases pollutants in the air and wastes fuel needlessly. So, I thought of ways in which this could be prevented," said the student of DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur.

Priyanka's model indicates whenever a vehicle's engine is idling. A message is displayed next to the odometer. "The space near the odometer could be used to set up a screen which would display a message and trigger the driver's conscience. For example, the message could be something as startling as "you have spoilt two years of a child's life". The number of years is calculated by estimating the amount of pollutants released during that interval of time," said Priyanka.

"Dr APJ Abdul Kalam is my biggest inspiration. I would like to be a doctor when I grow up," said Priyanka.

The National Innovation Foundation, an autonomous body of the Union government's department of science and technology department, has been organising IGNITE - a national competition of original technology-based ideas and innovations of children up to the age of 17, in or out of school since 2008.

There is no fixed number of awards. It depends upon the number of quality entries that are received. Original technological ideas and innovations of the students and any technological innovation that solves common problems are encouraged in the competition. In addition, the students are encouraged to look for other people, who come out with innovative machines or devices or solve day-to-day problems using their innovations.

"Students are also encouraged to document and learn many aspects of traditional knowledge from their elders in their family and neighbourhood. The purpose is to expose us to the rich traditional heritage that we have inherited," said Priyanka

A few other entries that were shortlisted are a monitoring device to stop mishaps in vehicle byArijita B. Patra from Angul, who has developed an instrument that could be fitted inside a vehicle to detect mishaps. It would alert anyone within a range of 1km that the passenger in the vehicle is in danger. Hopefully, nearby commuters or cops can come to their rescue and prevent untoward incidents.

Arijita was influenced by the infamous Delhi gang-rape incident of December 2012.