DUBAI: A sixteen-year-old Indian boy based in the UAE has come up with an innovative solution to hang weighted items from the wall without drilling holes, as part of a school assignment, which has now become a business idea for his family, according to a media report.
Ishir, a student of GEMS World Academy in Dubai, had to submit an innovative project for his Grade 10 International Baccalaureate (IB) course when he noticed how walls get damaged when nails are drilled into them, the Khaleej Times reported.
"While screw and nails have been in use since time immemorial, they pose problems for people on a daily basis such as damage to walls, outsourcing labour, dust pollution and other dangers of drilling," Ishir told the daily, adding that he wanted a non-intrusive solution to this issue.
Though Ishir had a fair idea as to how he wanted to execute the project, he reached out to his elder brother Avik, an engineering studentat Purdue University in the US, for further guidance.
"When we put our minds together, the solution, like all great ideas, was elegantly simple," Ishir told the Khaleej Times.
The solution included two steel tapes and a strong magnet which holds the entire assembly together.
"The steel tape that adheres to the wall is known as the 'alpha steel tape' and the one on the object to be hung as the 'beta steel tape'.
The neodymium magnet holds the entire assembly together, including the object being mounted," Ishir elaborated.
This non-intrusive method to hang weighted objects from the wall has been named 'KLAPiT' based on the 'clap' sound produced when the two magnets click.
Ashir's father Sumesh Wadhwa is delighted by his sons work.
"With this magnet, we were able to hang our home theatre system on our wall without drilling.
It really got my attention as my speakers had been lying around for almost 10 years but since I didn't want to drill the walls, I had left them," he told the daily.
Sumesh has now quit his job and decided to launch the 'KLAPiT' product as his family business.
"When I saw the invention of my boys, I knew this could be an absolute game-changer," he said.