Face Shield for Frontline Corona Workers; MGM University leads the fight against COVID19

The COVID19 positive cases and deaths in the country have been on the upsurge in spite of the nationwide lockdown. But the spike of cases among doctors, nurses, health workers who are the frontline warriors of the nation in this fight, is reason enough to put the nation into consternation. But while our doctors, health workers, and sanitation workers are indeed vulnerable to its scything on the frontline; some are making relentless efforts on other fronts to provide them with a shield against it.

A group of faculty members and students and alumni from MGM University Aurangabad have done just that. The team comprising of Dr. Ravindra Deshmukh, Prof. Pankaj Dhobale, Sushant Mahajan (PhD student), Prof. Pranav Bansode (ICEEM, Aurangabad), Prof. Lahane ably assisted by many other staff and students of MGM University have created face shields which they are distributing to doctors, police, sanitation workers and other frontline workers for free of cost.

Machine Maker spoke to Dr. Ravindra Deshmukh - Head of the Department, Engineering, MGM University, Aurangabad – to know more about this project and their plans. “During this lockdown, we were trying to figure out a way to help the frontline workers. We came to know about these face shields that were being produced in JJ Hospital, Mumbai. We saw their videos and came up with a different model of our own along with the help of few students and faculty members”, he said.

The MGM team used three different materials such as stainless steel, acrylic, and MDF to create the design of this face shield. “We presented the design to the Chancellor, Ankushrao Kadam, and Vice-Chancellor, Sudhir Gavhane. They gave us a green signal to start manufacturing the face shields.”

Initially, the team used the laser cutting machine in its polytechnic college and manufactured 30 face shields in the first batch. They distributed the face shield to doctors in government hospitals for testing. “We had asked them for feedback and after using the face shields for a few days; the doctors too gave us thumbs up. Then we decided to increase our production count”, he said.

Commenting on this development Vice-Chancellor of MGM University, Sudhir Gavhane on this achievement. “I am proud that our University faculties and students have created these face shields. I think it's the responsibility of every educational institution, students and researchers to come up with new ways to help our COVID-19 warriors because educational institutions are the storehouse of knowledge and hence use it with available resources to help these warriors who are working 24/7 against this dangerous outbreak”, he said.

Many educational institutions and young minds have been coming up with new ideas to help our frontline warriors to fight COVID-19. This project is a great example of how young minds of India along with the guidance of the seniors are taking up responsibilities during this outbreak.

For more details, you can reach Dr. Ravi Deshmukh at prithardeshmukh@gmail.com or at deanresearch@jnec.ac.in