ZufaIqba (20)was known as junior scientist during her school days, for her inclination towards science and developing of new innovative projects for solving day-to-day problems faced by the people.  She writes poetry and is an excellent debater. Though she was a school student when she submitted her idea, right now she is pursuing medical course in Iran.

Kashmiri Namda (woollen carpet) is just like a mattress, which is made up of wool. After imprinting with Kashmiri artwork, it is spread on the floor to adorn homes in winters.Namda making is a rare and unique craft wherein splendid floor pieces are made from wool by practice of felting the wool instead of weaving it. Wool is spread evenly in a thick layer on a grass mat or jute mat and sprinkled generously with soap water. Wool used here might be white or dyed. The mat is then rolled tightly and tied up with a rope and compressed by way of rolling to and fro on the floor with the help of hands and feet. This process goes on for about an hour. This allows fusing together of the fibre technically known as ‘fibre to fibre’ fusion. The rope is then untied and the mat unrolled, to discover the well-shaped Namda. This manual process take hours to complete one Namda sheet.

Zufa developed a machine, which works on the principle of rotation and relative motion after material is wrapped around the main roller. The roller applies pressure on material which binds the fibres together. A motor is attached to the rollers with a set of gears, which generates ample amount of pressure. It consist of an adjustable roller, to roll Namda of different thickness. Machine takes almost seven to eight minutes to make a simple Namda.