Indian inventor blends chair into trolley bag

While waiting at airports, railway and bus stations across the world, many travellers would have wished if their carry-on trolley bag could double as a portable seat as well.
Desperate to soothe their aching body, many finally sit on the bag. But what if there is something fragile inside the bag? Then the only option would be to sit on the floor.
This is precisely where award-winning Indian inventor, innovator and ‘master of machinery’ Zakarias Mathew’s trolley bag seat makes an entry.
Cleverly concealed behind a cabin baggage size trolley bag is a seat that could be unfolded in a few seconds, complete with a backrest, and a 100kg load capacity. Another salient feature is that the addition of the seat causes a mere 200gm of extra weight to the trolley bag.
“My company is in the process of launching the bulk manufacturing of this product which makes travel a pleasure and I have applied for an international patent,” Mathew told Gulf Times during a private visit to Doha.
The school dropout, who was described as a ‘scientist’ by the globally acclaimed rocket scientist and India’s former President A P J Abdul Kalam, has many inventions and patents to his credit.
Hydraulic hinged pole, hanging car park, retractable safety gear for work on high-rise buildings and structures, and a car cradle for infants up to the age of six months are among Mathew’s patented inventions.
Coconut plucking robot, control gear for violent elephants, automatic device to shell cashew nuts, rubber tapping machine, railway wagon shunting system, and sugar cane sampling machine are among the other inventions of the managing director of the Mumbai-based Senzo Group.
“Beneath the surface of every individual is an inherent skill which may remain untapped. I realised at a very young age that mine was a gift for understanding the working of machines,” recalled the 63-year-old.
“I may not recognise more than 10 of my 300 employees if I come across them on the street. But I just need to see a machine once to understand how it works, and I will never forget it,” he said.
The eldest of his parents’ 11 children, Mathew dropped out of school when he was in sixth grade. “Until then I used to spend more than a year in each class,” he laughed remembering his lacklustre performance in academics.
But Mathew proved to be a winner everywhere else. The turning point came in his teens when he dismantled the faulty engine of a tractor all by himself and fixed it.
In the early 1970s, the self-taught mechanic, who was in his early 20s, moved to Mumbai, the commercial and industrial capital of India and began to earn a living by repairing machines at various engineering plants.
Impressed by his ability for machinery trouble shooting, a number of reputable companies, including Pfizer and Voltas, offered him jobs with at least seven fold salary of a qualified engineer.
“Had I joined any company then, I would not have reached where I am now. My self-confidence is the secret of my success,” stated Mathew, who subsequently went on to become an authority in redesigning existing machines and designing new ones for industrial giants such as Boots India, Godrej, Voltas, Pfizer, Siemens, and L&T.
Early during his Mumbai stint, Mathew had realised his lack of knowledge of English would be restraint to growth. He overcame this by hiring a postgraduate as translator for a handsome salary.
After earning the respect of the industry, and gathering experience in engineering design, he set up his own factory to manufacture a type of flexible cords for Siemens and L&T.
Imported from Germany until then, these flexible cords were a crucial component of control panels. Mathew’s product performed better and at a fraction of the imported cost. “Even today we are the only supplier of this product,” he said. In 1999 he set up a large plant in Navi Mumbai, to manufacture metal beam crash barriers (guard rails) for safety on highways.
Given that this product was not available in India then, Mathew designed all the machines for the plant. He also set up a hot dip galvanising plant to meet in-house requirement, as well as cater to the needs of others.
In 2002 he started to make octagonal poles, high masts, and gantries and cantilevers. Again all the machinery was designed and fabricated by him. The field of roll forming machinery was where Mathew achieved remarkable success.
Over the years, he has graced elite panels and technical boards of many multinational companies. He has been honoured with national awards for outstanding contribution in the field of machinery design. These include Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani Award, National Excellence Award, and Rashtriya Ekta Award.
Another feather in his cap is being appointed adjunct professor and chief technology officer in the Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirapally, Kerala.
Mathew also takes pride in the fact that at least 1,000 former employees from his factory have taken up jobs in Gulf countries over the past three decades.
His website is named www.challengemathews.com. “I challenge any individual, company, institution, or government agency anywhere in this world, that I can resolve any problems they have with any type of machinery,” he added.