From Thomas Edison to Alexander Graham Bell, famous inventors have not only captured popular imagination but affected the lives of generations to come. Cambodia is no different with enquiring minds always on the search for new and innovative ideas. Michael Sloan talks to five local inven-tors about their eureka moments. Photography by Dylan Walker and Conor Wall.

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As his men fanned out into a deserted Khmer Rouge camp, captain Sem Sovantha paused to kick aside a bag lying at his feet. What happened next on that otherwise unremarkable day in 1990 will be forever etched in his memory.

I remember when it exploded. It wasnt noisy; it was like a small boom. I flew into the air with smoke everywhere and I could taste the bitterness of the TNT in my mouth.

The anti-personnel mine buried underneath the bag cost Sem both of his legs and ended his military career, but he

counts himself lucky to have survived. I thought I was dead. When I could see again I realised one of my legs was gone and one was limp, he says.

Today Sem heads the Angkor Association for the Disabled. Parked outside the charitys office is the groups contribution to the governments goal of ridding Cambodia of mines by 2020.

Dubbed the Peacehammer, the refurbished tractor uses a hydraulic crane to methodically lift and drop steel weights over a suspected minefield. The weights

explode the mines and absorb their impact, without hurting the driver - who is encased in protective clothing. Down the line, it will be remote controlled.

"When you think about it, a land mine is activated by a footstep. So that's what this machine does, only with ten times the force," says AAD volunteer Gary Christ, whos worked with Sem to develop the Peacehammer since 2008.

Cobbled together out of scrap metal, the prototype cost $18,000 to assemble and is significantly cheaper than demining machines currently used in Cambodia, which retail for upwards of $100,000.

It is intended to complement rather than replace existing demining techniques, explains Christ, and can quickly clear a safe corridor in a minefield to allow human de-miners to move in. The machine is due to undergo further testing by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre later this year before it gets the all-clear to begin operating.

I would like to see the machine provide work for AAD members in helping to assemble new ones, because when people with disabilities have a job, they have some money and theyre smiling. If not, when you look at their faces, theyre not so happy, says Sem.

The Peacehammer | Sem Sovantha and Gary Christ

Inventor Nhean Phaloek leans back and delivers a strong punch to the cushioned seat of his prototype Angkor car. Suddenly the dashboard lights up and a high-pitched voice remonstrates with him.

Why do you hit me so hard? it inquires. Good question, but a better one is: why does the car talk in the first place?

Nhean, a Phnom Penh mechanic who has been attracting international attention for his homemade vehicle, is in no hurry to answer. As he points out, talking is one of the least impressive things the Angkor does.

It is equipped with palm recognition technology and keyless ignition, as well as a habit of getting snippy, and is on track to become the first passenger vehicle invented and produced in Cambodia with a factory opening later this year.

The self-taught inventor first hit headlines in 2003 when he produced his first prototype, assembling a hand-welded fiberglass exterior around a Honda C100 engine. His family was instrumental in giving him the idea.

It started in 2000 when I took my daughter to drive a bumper car at a fairground. She came home and asked me if it was possible to build one to drive around in, he explains.

I owned a garage so I tried to look at all the different techniques for manufacturing them and in 2003 I produced a prototype for my daughter. But she doesnt drive it anymore because people look at her strangely so she feels embarrassed, he jokes.

Between 2002 and 2010, Nhean constructed two additional prototypes before the vehicle was ready for production. The diminutive car turned heads whenever he drove it in public.

Many people would ask where I bought it, he says. One person offered $100,000, but I wouldnt sell as I made it by hand.

Current Angkor models have a 600cc engine and are capable of top speeds of 100 kilometres an hour. With prices starting at $5,000, Nhean and his financial backers hope to produce 1,500 to 5,000 cars before 2013 and propel families onto the road who previously couldnt afford to drive.

While not all of the new Angkor Cars will have the extra features of his prototype, including its facility for speech, Nhean says hes confident the consumer model will catch on.

I think people have a willingness to own the car and drive the car because it is a symbol of Cambodia and they are proud we can produce it. Its about Cambodians supporting Cambodians.

Angkor Car | Nhean Phaloek

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Tim Waterfield is no mad scientist, but step inside his homemade biodiesel refinery and you might be momentarily tempted to think otherwise.

The Siem Reap centre comes complete with vats of bubbling chemicals and is the headquarters of Naga Biofuels. It pumps out an estimated 7,000 litres of biodiesel a month, most of it manufactured from used cooking oil donated by local hotels and restaurants.

Waterfields simple, cheap and environmentally friendly approach to sustainable energy has won Naga Biofuels a legion of local fans since it was founded in 2006.

While other synthetic fuels like ethanol require machines to be modified for use, Waterfields biodiesel can run in everything from cars, boats and generators.

Were converting the cooking oil into biodiesel and then its good to go in any diesel engine, he explains. You can mix it with regular fuel at any ratio and it works.

The only byproducts from the conversion process are soapy water and excess glycerin - which is then sold on to local mechanics as a degreaser for cleaning car and motorcycle parts. The biodiesel is trucked across country and sold to NGOs, at significantly discounted rates compared to regular diesel.

Waterfield says he was inspired by a six month bicycle tour across Southeast Asia in 2001 after which he began dabbling with renewable energy back home in the US. It was essentially not wanting to support the big oil companies and the problems that were resulting from using petroleum products, Waterfield explains.

With plans to increase production at the refinery to 10,000 litres per month by next year, Waterfield is looking for more suppliers and to partner with NGOs working in vulnerable areas like lakes and national parks.

With fuel prices continuing to rise in Cambodia, he sees a bright future ahead for synthetic fuels. This is real and it works, he says. Its environmentally friendly, socially responsible and financially viable.

Recycled Biodiesel | Tim Waterfield

Cham Sela never intended to revolutionise life in his village: he just wanted to do something nice for his mother. I wanted to build a hand pump for her so she didnt need to carry the water in buckets, he explains.

While a high school student in Siem Reap, he examined several water pumps on the market and ruled each one out as either too costly or difficult to maintain. He decided the best option was to design and build his own.

The end product was easy to install and fix, and up to ten times cheaper than other alternatives on the market. It operates much like a syringe. As the operator pulls horizontally on a lever, the air pressure in a pipe below increases and draws water up to the surface.

You can use PVC pipes and rubber from motorcycle tyres. A new one costs about $100 for the drilling and materials, five years ago it was just $60, he explains.

Unlike the more common India Mark II pump, installed by aid agencies in many rural villages and retailing at around

$1,000, Chams version is lightweight and easy to fix. More importantly its parts arent vulnerable to theft.

Since installing the original outside his mothers home a decade ago, hes seen imitations appear as far away as Kratie province.

I just made one for my mum but it has become an influenceother people in the village saw that and started making the same. I just gave them the idea, he says.

But Chams original pump has another important difference. He deliberately built it on the street outside the family house so anyone could use it. As they pump water for themselves, it diverts a third of the water through a pipe that fills his mothers water jars automatically each day.

Now a businessman, Cham still visits his mother regularly. He says their close relationship is still strong as ever.

I thought that she always tried to make life easy for me, so I should do something to help her, he says. It was something small but Im glad its also helping other people.

Affordable Water Pumps | Cham Sela

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Between last September and this January more than 12,000 homes in rural Cambodia lit up at night thanks to the power of the sun.

Through a World Bank funded project to provide energy to villagers cut off from the national grid, thousands of solar panels were imported and assembled by social enterprise Kamworks.

Its a huge project all over Cambodia. Theyre 30 and 50 watt systems which you can use for a black and white television and some lights, says Kamworks director Jeroen Verschelling. Before people had to use kerosene for lighting, which is terrible. Its expensive, its bad for your health and its a fire risk.

Based in Kandal province since 2006, Kamworks has also invented an affordable solar device called the MoonLight. Retailing for $25, the small light is charged during the day and emits a soft blue glow at night that lasts anywhere from 4.5 to 40 hours depending on the setting. Demand has grown significantly since the first was assembled in 2008, according to Verschelling, with devices now being exported to Africa, Indonesia and Thailand.

Its fun because we assemble the lanterns here in Kandal. The idea is that by doing it here we build also the expertise in the country. We see theres a demand for solar in the rural areas and we very much want to help with that.

Continuing high electricity prices and a fall in solar panel prices due to better manufacturing techniques has been a shot in the arm for the Kingdoms burgeoning solar industry. On a dollar to dollar basis its now cost competitive for large factories to switch to solar, he adds.

If we can produce electricity at market rates then youre going to see a lot more people switching over, he says.

MoonLight | Kamworks