The proposal was approved by Prof Seshadri Sekhar, faculty in-charge, Covid-19 Projects, IIT Madras, and supported by Central Workshop, IIT Madras.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras has partnered with industry to develop a touchless sanitiser dispenser that can be deployed in running vehicles such as cars, vans, buses and even autorickshaws. This design, IIT said, is scalable for use with both AC and DC power supply. “Care has been taken in the choice of materials so they can be safely used with liquid and gel-type sanitisers,” IIT said in a statement.

Kavitha Arunachalam, professor, Dept of Engineering Design, worked with Anandraj G and Rajesh D from Shima Engineering, a Chennai-based firm, on this project. They have received business enquiries, and are the process of moving to production mode.

Arunachalam said the idea of building a touchless sanitiser dispenser was initiated Shima Engineering in mid-March 2020. “Anticipating the need for hands-free personal hygiene products after Covid-19, I mentored Shima Engineering to build prototypes to suit different end-users.” The proposal was approved by Prof Seshadri Sekhar, faculty in-charge, Covid-19 Projects, IIT Madras, and supported by Central Workshop, IIT Madras. Shima Engineering is in the process of getting incubation support from IIT Madras for developing related products for personal hygiene, and products for disinfecting classrooms, office spaces, etc.