Kiran Ravindra Patil a first year student of B.Tech Aeronautical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology (MAHE) has earned the title in Guinness Book of World Records for making the smallest working drill. This unique drill measures 6.1mm (0.24in) tall, 6.7mm (0.27in) long and 4.6mm (0.18in) wide and is equipped with 0.5mm drill bit. A 3V battery drives the tiny drill and it can drill through soft objects like foam, balsa wood. This tiny technology can be used where size comes up as a challenging factor.

Drills are one of the most commonly required tool in almost all industries like the woodworking, metal industry, construction and even households.

Sharing his thoughts on this achievement, Patil said, “I was actually designing a motor for the aircraft and during my summer break I hit upon the idea of making the smallest drill machine, being an engineering student I know the importance of this tool which is extensively used across all industries. It took about 4 months to finish the final design and the prototype. Infact this can be put to good use in the medical field as well. Science is always after small/ tiny things and therefore this machine is really amazing and handy. It really fascinates me to create something small and I believe such tiny things have bigger impact in the technology of future’’.

Dr. D Srikanth Rao, Director, Manipal Institute of Technology said, “We at the Manipal Institute of Technology strive to build an environment that fosters creativity and the ability to stay relevant and unique in their respective industries. We are overwhelmed with this remarkable achievement of our student Kiran Ravindra Patil, who has bagged such a prestigious title. We encourage our students to be creative and enhance their talent and potential that can be leveraged to the best with the kind of platform we provide at MIT.

According to Prof Satish Shenoy, HOD, Aeronautical & Automobile Engineering, Kiran is also actively involved in developing miniaturized drones at MIT. His primary interest is in development of drones and won several accolades for it.