IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 38

Kurup won the challenge for her
innovative water purification system,
which harnesses solar energy to disinfect contaminated water. She mentioned
that she was inspired to devise a solution
when she traveled to India with her family, who was visiting the Kerala area. She
was astounded to witness the limited

access to clear, drinking water. As Kurup
points out, this is one of the 14 global
issues identified by the National Academy of Engineering in its Grand Challenges for Engineering.
When they returned from India,
Kurup set to work. She spent countless
hours in the basement working on a

Kurup (second from left) scored US$25,000 to go along with the title of "America's
Top Young Scientist."

way to purify water quickly and inexpensively. Her dad says, "I helped pull
research papers she asked for but that's
about it." Her mom highlights the tenacity and focus with which Kurup worked
on this project. "She didn't watch a single movie all summer and scaled back
on time with friends since she was so
focused on making this work."
After focused work, Kurup had a concept ready to submit for the Discovery
Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. After submitting an early prototype, Kurup had the opportunity to work
remotely with a 3M mentor to prepare for
the final competition at the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. "It
was pretty cool to tour the center and
meet with the other finalists," she says. "It
was a fun experience, and I was excited to
actually make something that works."
Kurup began her presentation stating, "Water. It is the substance that is
essential for life, yet 1/6th of the global
population lacks access to clean drinking water." Kurup then went on the
explain the off-grid water purification
system she created that accelerates the
concept behind SODIS (a purification
system working with sunlight) by exposing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to
sunlight. She experimented with a few
materials but then finally settled on
including 3M glass bubbles and cement
to the titanium dioxide and zinc oxide
mixture, which required several more
experiments to determine the best ratio.

Kurup often passes along to students her favorite quote from Albert Einstein: "I
have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

Honors and Accolades

Kurup proudly displays her work-an innovative water purification system that
harnesses solar energy to disinfect contaminated water.

Since winning, she has been invited to
participate in the Darthmouth Thayer
School of Engineering Science and Engineering Festival, compete in the Stockholm Junior Water Prizespeak at the OU
International Water Conference, has spoken at Fairgrounds Middle School, and
presented to an elementary school. When
asked what she thinks of all of this fame,
she simply states, "I don't know. It all
happened so fast. It's exciting."
She was recently invited to participate in the White House Science
Fair. "It was amazing," beams Kurup.
Although she did not meet President
Obama personally on this particular trip

IEEE women in engineering magazine

DeCEMBER 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013