At the 42nd International Inventions of Geneva in early April, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China (abbreviated as RDFZ) secured two gold and three silver medals. Junior three student Zhao Tianyang won a gold medal for his invention, Recovery and Utilization Device for Waste Heat Discharged from Family Air-Conditioner. The International Inventions of Geneva is one of the world’s three most important exhibitions of inventions with the longest history and largest scale. The other two are exhibitions held at Nuremberg, Germany and Pittsburgh, USA. At the 42nd International Inventions of Geneva, over 1,000 inventions and products were presented by 800 exhibitors from 50 countries. The delegation from China went there for the third time this year with 25 objects of invention, half of which had been done by students at school. The presence of these young inventors was quite impressive at the biggest event in the world to be exclusively devoted to inventions.
A fantastic innovation inspired by heatwave
Recently, our reporter interviewed Zhao Tianyang at RDFZ. The handsome boy looked confident, composed and low-profiled when talking about his invention. He expressed his wish to further improve his novelty so that it would be marketed in the near future.
The idea of collecting the waste heat discharged from air-conditioners and reuse it actually came from an unexpected experience. One day in the summer following junior two, Zhao Tianyang passed by a building and happened to be “baked” for a while by the intensity of heat coming out of the external unit of an air-conditioner. Then, a creative idea occurred to him ---- why cannot the waste heat from the external unit of air-conditioners be recycled? It is a general knowledge that waste heat discharge pollutes air, wastes resources, causes the heat island effect in cities and thus further increases the atmospheric temperature. Though not knowing the exact number of air-conditioners across the country, the student estimated that it must have been over a hundred million, including those used in households and factories, the heat of which cannot be ignored.
According to the physics knowledge he had learned, Zhao Tianyang knows well that “due to the energy conservation law, the heat from air-conditioner will not vanish, so it might be collected for better use. Therefore my project of recovery and utilization device for waste heat is of great significance in terms of energy saving.”
Zhao Tianyang has shown great passion for science since his childhood. He likes designing robots and making architecture and navigation models. At RDFZ, the educational guideline of respecting individual and tapping potential, the elective courses provided, a favorable teaching environment as well as a variety of scientific activities and invention-oriented programs offered, all together, are conducive to inspiring his creative ideas. Back in junior one, the enterprising science-lover invented an interactive machine for special patients under the instruction of his technology teacher. In junior two, he distinguished himself at the World FTC and National Architecture Models Competition. In junior three when there is usually a heavy workload for Zhao Tianyang and his classmates who are supposed to prepare for the high school entrance exam , Zhao Tianyang came up with the idea and has been obsessed with it ever since. Luckily, Zhao’s head teacher and subject teachers were very supportive, guiding him to use limited time properly and to keep participating in scientific activities. More importantly, his technology teacher encouraged him to experiment boldly. With all favorable conditions at the ready, Zhao Tianyang began to turn his idea derived from a heatwave into product.
