At 12, she noticed how ironing machines used by vendors released charcoal smoke. She then invented a solar-powered alternative in just 6 months

When most of her peers were busy playing video games or watching cartoons, one girl from Tamil Nadu did the impossible – Vinisha Umashankar invented a solar-powered ironing cart. Her creation, Iron Max, uses solar energy in place of charcoal to reduce pollution and increase revenue for merchants.

Eventually, her proposal led her to COP26, where she spoke to world leaders like Prince William, President Joe Biden, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This resulted in the creation of the Iron Max, according to a Times of India article. When she was 12, she saw something that utterly stopped her as she was passing a street ironing vendor—the kind of vendor that most people pass every day without giving it much thought. On the side of the road, the vendor was discarding charred charcoal. When she was twelve years old, she had the idea and collaborated with engineers to develop a prototype.


She was unnerved at how much charcoal was generated and how smoke caused a prevalence of lung diseases among vendors. For the next six months or so, she read advanced physics textbooks to understand the mechanics of a solar panel.

She created Iron Max, a solar-powered ironing cart that uses renewable energy from the sun to completely replace charcoal. The iron is powered for six hours by five hours of sunshine; this benefits both the environment and suppliers. In order to allow vendors to make extra money by charging customers' phones while they waited for their garments, she attached phone charging outlets to the cart. They can reach more customers if they have more mobility. The story is told by the numbers. The monthly income of a merchant may rise from approximately Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000. According to the vendor, nearly 1.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions might be avoided annually. Additionally, 10 million Indian merchants might become participants in the renewable energy revolution instead of contributors to deforestation.

The National Innovation Foundation India, an independent organisation of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, presented Vinisha with the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award. The 2020 Children's Climate Prize followed. She was only a student when she was chosen as the youngest finalist for the 2021 Earthshot Prize. She was invited to COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, after being selected as one of 15 finalists out of more than 750 contenders for Prince William's first environmental prize.

As per her LinkedIn profile, Vidisha is now studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Sydney.