S. Vishnu Sharma
Protection from COVID 19 becomes essential in the process of fighting the pandemic. Student of SRM Amaravati P. Mohan Aditya developed a face shield with an objective of ensuring protection from the disease.
The noteworthy point is the faceshield made by Mohan Aditya for Protection from COVID 19 was unveiled at the Velagapudi Secretariat where the student was seen wearing the Face Shield and preparing them.
Protection from COVID 19
The Sophisticated Corona Face Shield was handed over to Adimulapu Suresh, the Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh and Nandigam Suresh, MP from Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh.
As the situation turns hard only hard move ahead is the saying which has turned true for SRM AP students who are using the present time for brainstorming and innovation.
Mohan who worked out the solution which ensures Protection from COVID 19 is a second year Mechanical Engineering student. There is another fine point to the face shield he designed to ensure Protection from COVID 19.
It costs less than a plate of snacks. The faceshield which ensures Protection from COVID 19 was given name by its innovator itself. He named it as ‘Face Shield 2.0’.
The face shield is very lightweight, easy to wear, comfortable yet durable. It protects a person’s entire face from hazards with a thin layer of transparent plastic film that serves as an outer defence.
The innovation of this second year Mechanical Engineering student of SRM Amaravati is likely to assume significance as the need to ensure Protection from COVID 19 disease is of vital importance.
It is a piece of protective equipment to guard the face against exposure to potentially infectious materials.
Another fine point with regards to this shield for Protection from COVID 19 is that it is biodegradable as the headband is made of cardboard(paper) which is 100% degradable material and the plastic can be reused.
The Face Shield 2.0 for Protection from COVID 19 was manufactured using the CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) machine through which Aditya designed a headband and the shape of the transparent plastic film was created using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software.
I gave this CAD model as an input to the CNC machine. Now the CNC machine software analysed the CAD model and started to cut the cardboard and transparent sheet according to the drawing provided as an input, said Mohan.
‘Thus, I managed to bring down the production time for manufacturing and assembling the Face shield in less than two minutes.’
A three Ply Corrugated Cardboard Sheet had been used in making the headband so that the headband becomes durable, comfortable and lightweight.
The bursting strength of the cardboard sheet is 16kg/sq.cm. A thick 175-micron transparent plastic sheet has been placed over the headband to protect the person against the virus.
This also forms a barrier that keeps people from easily touching their faces. The transparent film also helps in allowing the visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception.
The other innovative features of the face shield for Protection from COVID 19 is that a cushioning type of structure has been attached to the headband so that the person wearing it for a long time does not get strained.
This is quite helpful as the medical professionals who wear the shield for Protection from COVID 19 can wear it for longer duration in case their work hours get extended.
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Amidst that it is important the medical professionals should not feel inconvenience. This faceshield for Protection from COVID 19 is also helpful for police, municipal workers, people working in the sanitizing department, people working in the essential goods sector.
This will ensure Protection from COVID 19 for them also. It can also be used by virus-infected patients so that the chance of spreading the virus to a healthy person can be decreased.
That is not all. Even students can use this for Protection from COVID 19 when they come back to their educational institutions for resuming academic work post lockdown.
By providing the elastic band to this face shield, any person with different head circumferences can wear it easily.
The masks were circulated among the police and paramedics, who appreciated Mohan Aditya for this initiative.
The management of SRM AP applauded the research work of the innovator. The invention is inspiring and useful to the society.
Dr. P Sathyanarayanan, President, SRM University-AP, and Professor D Narayana Rao, Pro Vice Chancellor, SRM University-AP celebrated the commendable intelligence of the student and congratulated him for developing the face shield using new technology.
Mohan Aditya always wanted to make a difference. He came to know through articles in newspapers which highlighted the shortage of equipment that can ensure Protection from COVID 19.
‘That is when the idea of bringing out this faceshield pounced on me. I thought to make a face shield which is 100% biodegradable, low in cost and also gives protection to the facial area and associated mucous membranes (Eyes, Nose, Mouth) which are the possible entries for a virus to infect people.’
Mohan Aditya wants to be a successful engineer in life. He is very passionate about making useful gadgets.
His previous endeavour with his team successfully ended up in making an Electric bicycle by using a 24V 250Watt DC motor powered by a 12V and 12Ah battery. At present, they are working on the retrofit of an old IC Bike into a brand new Electric Bike.