Sonam Wangchuk (born 1 September 1966) is an Indian engineer, activist, innovator, education reformer, and environmentalist. He is the founding-director of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), founded in 1988.
๐ Early Life and Education
Wangchuk was born in 1966 near Alchi in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir (now Ladakh). He was not enrolled in a school until the age of 9, as there were no schools in his village.
At age 9, he was taken to Srinagar and enrolled in a school where he faced language barriers. He completed his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Srinagar in 1987.
๐ซ SECMOL and Education Reform
In 1988, Wangchuk started Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) with his brother and five peers. He was instrumental in launching Operation New Hope in 1994 to reform government schools.
He designed the SECMOL campus that runs on solar energy and uses no fossil fuels for cooking, lighting or heating. The campus won the International Terra Award in July 2016.
โ๏ธ Ice Stupa and Water Solutions
In late 2013, Wangchuk invented and built a prototype of the Ice Stupa, an artificial glacier storing winter water as ice cones. By February 2014, they built a two-storey prototype storing roughly 150,000 litres of water.
In October 2016, Wangchuk went to the Swiss Alps to build the first Ice Stupa of Europe. He also applied the Ice Stupa technique for disaster mitigation at high altitude glacier lakes in Sikkim.
๐๏ธ Innovations and Projects
In February 2021, Wangchuk developed solar-powered tents for the Indian army, each accommodating around 10 soldiers. In 2016, he initiated FarmStays Ladakh for tourists to stay with local families.
He founded the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL) with Gitanjali J Angmo. Wangchuk has been helping design passive solar mud buildings in Ladakh, Sikkim and Nepal.
๐ Awards and Recognition
As of 2025, Wangchuk has received around 15 awards. These include the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2018), the title of Eminent Technologist of the Himalayan Region by IIT Mandi (2018), and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2017).
๐ณ๏ธ Activism and Movements
In 2013, Wangchuk helped launch the New Ladakh Movement (NLM), a social campaign for sustainable education, environment and economy. In June 2020, he appealed to Indians to boycott Chinese products after the Galwan border skirmishes.
In March 2024, he started a fast-unto-death for constitutional safeguards for Ladakh. On 30 September 2024, Wangchuk and his supporters were detained by Delhi Police at the Singhu border and released on 2 October 2024.
| Year | Event | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Founded SECMOL | Ladakh | Education reform movement |
| 2013 | Ice Stupa prototype | Ladakh | Water storage solution |
| 2016 | FarmStays Ladakh | Ladakh | Tourism initiative |
| 2021 | Solar tents for army | India | Military innovation |