Students Invent Windmill That Could Power Smartphones

Engineering majors had been trying to figure out potential uses for a new metal alloy when graduate research associate Smitha Rao recalled her 3- year-old playing with a toy windmill.

The group suggest that thousands of windmills — 1.8 mm in diameter — could be put together in a sleeve that would cover a smartphone. That sleeve, once waved through the air, could recharge a phone’s battery, according to the UTA research.

Each windmill is so small that a single grain of rice could hold 10 of them.

Electrical engineering  professor J.C. Chiao said he was shocked at how well the windmills worked.

“Research is often about making mistakes,” he said. “This is really good. Smitha (the designer) had really good intuition. I’m really proud.”

For more, go to the Houston Chronicle.