The UV lights of the unit, which is equipped to kill germs including fungus, viruses and bacteria, should only be used on products and should not come close to a person’s skin.
In a first, IIT- Ropar has designed a machine in which products can be sterilised using UV rays. The institute has also started consulting a Chandigarh-based manufacturing company for its production.
The firm, Esspee Industries, has not tied up with any retail shop and will be selling the product for Rs 4,500 per unit at its factory situated in Chandigarh’s industrial area. Officials said, the machine will sterilise products ranging from groceries to purses, among others, and can last till at least five years.
The UV-C Sterlisation Unit was conceptualised and designed by Senior Scientific Officer Naresh Rakha, Dr Khushboo Rakha and Executive Engineer TS Anand.
The idea for the concept hit Naresh, when “in the initials days of the lockdown, we were bringing groceries from markets and there were several reports of the virus being spread that way. We thought of coming up with a way to sanitise our groceries before taking them to the kitchen and then we conceptualised the current prototype. We researched and knew that UV rays are something that can easily kill the virus. we had to contrive a way to use it in a way that is beneficial to us.”
Naresh says that the product has been designed in a way that it can be easily made available to a common man, without much expenditure. A basic trunk is used with careful measurements, amount and intensity of bulbs.
“The calculation of the duration of time which will kill the virus was the tricky part,” he says. A product or a host of products can be kept in the trunk together and should remain inside for a minimum of 10 minutes for one cycle of sterilisation to be completed.
Since the concept came to life, several organisations and even police and army officials have approached the university for consultation and the product. “Haryana IG Bharti Arora had contacted us and has got several such trunks prepared locally. Some military people also recently approached us,” says Naresh, who is providing consultations free of charge to everyone including different companies.
“We are not charging even a single rupee for consultations. The cost is not very high and we have insisted those partnering with us to not collect profits from buyers,” he adds.
Esspee Industries also donated a unit to Panchkula Civil Hospital on Wednesday.
The UV lights of the unit, which is equipped to kill germs including fungus, viruses and bacteria, should only be used on products and should not come close to a person’s skin.