India has always been a land of frugal innovation,
where scarcity often births brilliance. But when Mark Rober, one of the
world’s most inventive minds, landed in India, this traditional strength
received a global spotlight. The former NASA engineer turned YouTube megastar
is not only on a cultural exchange across Indian cities—he’s launched a contest
that could change lives, especially for those with ideas but limited resources.
Rober’s Indian adventure began with excitement and
anticipation. In Pune, he was greeted by engineering students who had followed
his experiments religiously—be it the glitter bomb for scammers, the squirrel
maze Olympics, or the world’s largest Nerf gun. His meet-and-greet
at a tech fest turned into a standing-room-only event, where students peppered
him with questions about propulsion, robotics, and his CrunchLabs toy-building
startup.
While India welcomed him with open arms, Rober gave
back something far more powerful—a platform. Through his #MarkRoberJugaad
contest, he is inviting people from across India to showcase their most
ingenious homemade creations. The task is simple but powerful: use household
items to invent something functional or fun, film a short video of it, post it
publicly on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or X, and submit the link at www.markroberjugaad.com.
The stakes? ₹5 lakh for each of ten winners.
Open to all Indian residents aged 8 and above, the contest runs until September
15, 2025. If a participant is a minor, their parent or legal guardian must
make the post and submit the entry.
In Hyderabad, Rober collaborated with Tech
Burner, India’s tech and gadget guru. They reverse-engineered household
appliances to turn a rice cooker into a low-temperature lab incubator,
demonstrating how science can hide in plain sight. “This is what I love about
Jugaad,” said Rober. “It’s not about what you don’t have. It’s about what you
can imagine.”
Rober also met with YouTube duo Slay Point,
where the group toured the lanes of Old Delhi, collecting items from street
vendors to build a quirky, functioning water cooler powered entirely by gravity
and clay pots. The invention wasn’t just clever—it was sustainable, echoing
Rober’s larger mission of promoting eco-conscious innovation.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the tour came
when Rober hosted a pop-up invention fair in Ahmedabad. Hundreds of kids showed
up, models in hand—some had built pest repellents from garlic spray bottles,
while others demonstrated homemade alarm systems using toy motors and LED
lights. Mark was visibly emotional. “This is the stuff that should be trending,
not dance challenges,” he quipped. “These kids are brilliant.”
But Rober hasn’t limited himself to science
circles. In Mumbai, he filmed a special episode with Hardik Pandya,
where the two tested the aerodynamics of a cricket ball using high-speed
cameras and pressure gauges. The video blended sports, science, and star
power—instantly trending online.
As a part of his India tour, Rober is also
amplifying the mission of CrunchLabs, his educational venture in
California. Launched in 2022, CrunchLabs creates monthly subscription kits for
kids to build STEM toys at home, each kit paired with an exclusive video filmed
at Rober’s lab. With over hundreds of thousands of subscribers, it has
quickly become one of the world’s leading platforms for hands-on learning.
By merging this mission with India’s rich legacy of
jugaad, Rober hopes to ignite a revolution. His contest isn’t just about ₹5
lakh prizes. It’s about celebrating creativity in places where traditional labs
don’t exist. “Your kitchen, your garage, your school bag—those are labs too,”
he said at an event.
The clock is ticking. Entries are open. Ten lucky
inventors will be chosen, and India’s next science superstar could be
anyone—from a school student in Nashik to a mechanic in Chennai.
Rober’s trip has been more than a tour—it’s been a
movement. One that dares everyday Indians to believe that a bottle, a motor, a
spoon, and some imagination might just be worth ₹5 lakh.