16-year-old's kerosene-water stove wins science prize

At a time when most teenagers were focused on school and science assignments, 16-year-old Vyasji Mishra was trying to solve a practical problem with an unusual idea. A Class 11 student from Devsar in Madhya Pradesh, Mishra developed a hybrid stove that used kerosene for initial heating and water converted into steam as an alternative heat source. The invention attracted attention at science exhibitions and eventually won him first prize at a science exhibition in 2003. However, the device was not a stove that could run on water alone. It combined kerosene heating with steam to reduce the amount of kerosene needed. Later testing also found that the prototype could save around 20% of kerosene, making the invention more accurately described as a fuel-efficient hybrid stove rather than a water-powered stove.How Vyasji Mishra developed the unusual stoveMishra's interest in science had started early.