S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Mandi researchers have developed an Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light-based portable disinfection box at a cost of Rs 35,000.
This product developed by IIT Mandi researchers can be used to disinfect metallic, plastic and cardboard products like wallets, keys, spectacles, bags, courier packages and parcels, among others, to minimise the risk of COVID-19.
IIT Mandi researchers 2020
IIT Mandi researchers who provided expertise for this product are Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, IIT Mandi, Dr. Sunny Zafar, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, IIT Mandi, Dr. Hitesh Shrimali, Associate Professor, School of Computing & Electrical Engineering, IIT Mandi.
Dr. Prosenjit Mondal, Associate Professor, School of Basic Sciences and Dr. Amit Prasad, Assistant Professor, School of Basic Sciences are also among IIT Mandi researchers who provided the expertise.
Minimising the risk is the key because this virus can live on these surfaces for up to three days.
Work by IIT Mandi researchers has shown that UV-C light can achieve a high level of inactivation of a near-relative of COVID-19’s virus.
Thus, reducing the risks of contagion among healthy people. In the workplace, it can be an excellent tool for disinfecting transit of goods.
The structure of the box is based on a UV-C opaque covered frame. It consists of a cuboid container made of a wooden board (furniture grade) with a two-layer aluminium foil coating to prevent UV-C light leakage.
Ten UV-C lamps with designated ratings are used to provide UV-C light exposure to object surfaces. These lamps are connected with automatic timer control that regulates the dose of UV-C light as per requirement for the specific object.
IIT Mandi researchers namely Dr. Himanshu Pathak and Dr. Sunny Zafar identified the capability of UV-C light for the disinfecting objects against contamination of the novel COVID-19 virus.
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The developed prototype is capable of disinfecting non-living objects like courier packets, travel bags, currency, wallets, wrist watches, mobile phones, laptops, books, stationery among others, said Dr. Himanshu Pathak.
We are using ozone-free UV-C lamps (with 254 nm wavelength), as per the ISO: 15858:2016 standard for UV-C devices -safety information with almost no exposure to human operators, said Dr. Sunny Zafar.
Highlighting the benefits of the Disinfection Box in the COVID-19 perspective IIT Mandi researchers said the developed prototype can disinfect all kinds of metal, plastic and cardboard-based products from the bacteria and SARS-CoV-2 virus within one-minute exposure of UV-C light, by eliminating up to 99%.
IIT Mandi researchers have tested the prototype in an in-house lab facility at IIT Mandi against the bacteria ‘Escherichia coli’ and ‘Staphylococcus aureus’.
The prototype shows 99% efficacy to kill both bacteria within 40 seconds of UV-C light exposure. Furthermore, on testing the IIT Mandi researchers found that UV-C lamps did not heat up the disinfected product.
The work did not end with that innovation alone. IIT Mandi researchers also developed foot-operated hand sanitiser dispenser.
IIT Mandi researchers Mr. Navish Sharma, Technical Assistant, Civil, IIT Mandi along with his team Mr. Tilak Raj and Mr. Hans Raj have developed a low-cost foot-operated hand sanitiser dispenser for sanitising hands without touching contaminated surfaces of the sanitiser bottle.
In this dispenser, a spring reinforced foot pedal is installed which is connected to a pipe with a holder in which the sanitiser bottle will be placed.
On pressing the foot pedal the sanitiser holder will lift and the bottle head will be pressed by a glass cap.
About – IIT Mandi
Since the first batch of 97 students joined in July 2009, IIT Mandi has grown to currently host 125 faculty and 1,655 students who are enrolled in various programmes of studies in undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes, and 1,141 alumni.
IIT Mandi is a fully residential campus with 1.4 lakh sq. m. buildings completed. It has a guest house with 88 rooms, an 750-seater Auditorium, campus school, sports complex and hospital.
IIT Mandi has four Academic Schools and three major Research Centers. The Schools are: School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, School of Basic Sciences, School of Engineering, and School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Centers are: Advanced Materials Research Centre (AMRC; set up with an investment of Rs. 60 crore), Centre for Design and Fabrication of Electrical Devices (C4DFED; has Rs. 50 crore worth of fabrication tools), and BioX Centre (has acquired research equipment worth Rs. 15 crore).
In 2017, the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, selected IIT Mandi to lead the prestigious Rs. 10 crore FarmerZone Project.
To cater to the growing and changing needs of Indian industry and the aspirations of students, IIT Mandi has introduced 7 B.Tech., 7 M.Tech., 5 M.Sc., 4 Ph.D., 1 I-Ph.D and 1 M.A programmes in the past 10 years. The unique, project-oriented B.Tech. curriculum is centered around its 4-year long Design and Innovation stream.
From August 2019, IIT Mandi started 3 new and unique B. Tech. programmes in Data Science and Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Dual Degree in Bioengineering.
Since the inception of the Institute, IIT Mandi faculty have been involved in over 275 Research and Development (R&D) projects worth more than Rs. 120 crore.
In the past 10 years, the Institute has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with as many as 11 international and 12 national universities.
Launched in 2016, IIT Mandi’s Catalyst is the first Technology Business Incubator in Himachal Pradesh. Enabling Women of Kamand Valley (EWOK) is another innovative programme run by IIT Mandi, which focuses on imparting skills training to rural women to enable them to start village-scale businesses.
IIT Mandi has been ranked No. 20 in the Engineering Institutions Category in the India Rankings 2019 released by National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. In the Outreach and Inclusivity metric of NIRF, IIT Mandi is 1st among all 23 IITs.