Ig Nobel Prize for Engineering Design

Dr. Vikash Kumar , Assistant Professor of Design at Shiv Nadar University , and student researcher Sarthak Mittal have been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for Engineering Design. Their project, which began as a student assignment, involved creating shoe racks equipped with ultraviolet lamps to combat unpleasant odors caused by bacteria in shoes often left outside hostel rooms.

Dr. Kumar remarked, “Design ideas often stem from observing everyday situations, and the solutions typically require interdisciplinary knowledge—here, a combination of engineering, design, and microbiology.” Dr. Kumar, who teaches human-centered design, initially did not know about the Ig Nobel Prize until he received an email confirming that his and Mittal’s work had been selected.

The Ig Nobels, awarded annually since 1991 by the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), celebrate achievements that “first make people laugh and then make them think,” according to AIR chief editor Marc Abrahams .