Indian Students Donate Masks Made from Chinese Printers

Indian Students Donate Masks Made from Chinese Printers

Indian students have captured the attention of their country after they made face shields and donated them to protect health professionals and police in Chennai.

A team from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) developed the face shields, printed them on a 3D printer and distributed them for free as part of the fight against the novel coronavirus.

“This is a dangerous period for us all, and we cannot afford any of our health professionals or police contracting the virus and falling ill,” said Hari Ramachandran (pictured), a dual degree student at IIT-M. The IIT-M is the premier institute in India for engineering.

According to The Times of India, Ramachandran and his friends—Pranit Mehta, Mehta, Anuj Khandalkar and Denil Chawda, Professor Satya Chakravarty and alumni Ravi Santhanam and Suyash Singh—”decided to create a face shield that protects the eyes, nose, and mouth of the wearer from splashes and sprays of infectious body fluids.”

They had all the plans ready and had to scout around for a 3D printing solution. Padmaja Padarthi, a co-founder of NexGen 3D printers stepped up to help manufacture as many masks as they could using CoLIDo printers designed and manufactured by Print-Rite in China. NextGen 3D is the official reseller for these 3D printers in southern India.

Each face mask frame takes about 30 minutes to make. They are now making 1,500 frames per day and hope to ramp it up to 2,000 units per day. Staff assemble the clear cover to the face mask frame.

“We are also looking at providing other medical equipment required to help combat this outbreak,” said Professor Satya Chakravarthy, from the department of IIT-M’ aerospace engineering.

While the face shields will be provided free of charge to government doctors and police officers, others are able to obtain them for a nominal amount of Rs.100 (US$1.30) per shield or for the reusable ones at Rs.150 (US$1.95).

Related:

• Lexmark Employees Make Face Masks for Healthcare Staff
• ARMOR to 3D Print 1000 Masks a Day for Frontline Workers
• Berto Dons a Face Mask to Beat Coronavirus and Toner Dust

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Dhruv Mahajan is RT Imaging World’s Regional Partner for India. Based in New Delhi, he has been an international business development manager responsible for the past eleven years developing the aftermarket imaging supplies business throughout the Gulf and South-east Asia regions.

Mahajan is also the International Business Development Manager at Fast Image Products Co—a member of the Huiwei Group—responsible for developing business on aftermarket imaging supplies across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).

“I know all the key players in this market and I know they are looking for components as well as finished goods for laser, inkjet, copier, wide-format as well as new printer options. There are many medium-sized businesses I know that are also looking to expand their businesses and I am confident of providing support to them all.”

For more information please contact him at <dhruvm@zhfast.com>

Want to know more about the dynamic market in India? Read Mahajan’s other blogs and articles:

• Indian Students Donate Masks Made from Chinese Printers
• Observing the Third Largest World Market – Trends in India
• Focus on Prices Alone Will Bring Doom
• Making Channel and Distributor Business More Profitable
• NEEDED: A Global Manufacturer to Set Up in India
• Women in the Indian Aftermarket
• Aftermarket Continues to Bite into the OEM Share of India