University of Waterloo doctoral candidate Kaveeshan Thurairajah may not have a Nobel Prize, but he proudly holds an Ig Nobel Prize. The Ig Nobels, a whimsical tribute to the Nobel Prizes, honor the quirky and inventive research in academia. Thurairajah and his team were awarded the Ig Nobel Physics Prize this year for their innovative work on creating a urinal that prevents splashing.
Thurairajah recalls the moment his supervisor, fluid physicist Zhao Pan, shared the exciting news of their win. Celebrating with a bottle of wine from Pan’s office cupboard, they toasted to their success using espresso cups. The team experimented with various urinal prototypes, such as the Nautilus and Cornucopia designs, to achieve maximum splash reduction and ease of cleaning.
Attending the awards ceremony in Zurich, clad in yellow raincoats, Thurairajah emphasized that their research did not involve actual urine splashing. Instead, they designed an anatomically accurate pee machine for testing purposes. Despite the humorous nature of their project, Thurairajah believes their work holds practical significance in enhancing public restroom facilities.
The team’s findings were published in the journal PNAS Nexus last year. Alongside the Waterloo physicists, other Canadian researchers were recognized at the ceremony for diverse studies, including behavioral economics experiments involving candy theft from children and utilizing mosquito proboscises for high-resolution 3D printing. The Ig Nobel Awards, presented by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine, recently moved to Europe after three decades in the United States due to visa-related concerns.
Thurairajah, advocating for international collaboration in the scientific community, praised the decision to relocate the awards ceremony to Europe. He emphasized the importance of global cooperation among researchers and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to celebrate with colleagues from around the world.