A college student has apologized for causing a scare on a subway train when his science project short-circuited and started smoking in his backpack.

Gregory Kats, 29, said the device was just a model of an elevator's inner workings. But it frightened riders on a B train near the Seventh Avenue stop on Thursday.

Commuters board the New York City Subway in New York March 10, 2008. U.S. mass transit ridership began to surge when gasoline hit the $3 a gallon level in 2005 and has continued to rise steadily ever since as pump prices top record after record, according to a report released on Monday by the American Public Transit Association. REUTERS/Keith Bedford (UNITED STATES)

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Kats said he tried to reassure his fellow passengers that it was a school project _ not a bomb _ but people scrambled for the exits nonetheless. The box he was holding had a small battery, wires and a motor.

"They were panicking, and I realized their fear," an apologetic Kats said.

He said he tried to disassemble the contraption on the platform even as he reassured riders, "Don't worry. This is my science project."

Kats was questioned by police and later released.

Kats is a computer engineering student at the New York City College of Technology.

"I'm very sorry for what happened," Kats said. "I hate to scare people. Next time, I'll be much more careful and keep my electronic projects at home."