A product designed and developed by three alumni from the 2016 batch of the Institute Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) is now used by COVID-19 frontline health care workers in hospitals. The three youths designed and created PPE doffing units using 3D printing technology.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma. Subramanian commissioned a unit each in the government headquarters hospital in Kancheepuram and the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate, Chennai, last week.
The team is building one for the government hospital in Tiruvallur. 3D printing technology has reduced the construction time, is sustainable and eco-friendly as it uses less raw material.
Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a deep tech start-up, has collaborated with multinational company Saint Gobain to develop the doffing units.
The units include a wash basin, water closet, shower and disposal chute for PPE. The plumbing and electrical lines are integrated along the 3D printed walls. The units comprise an untraviolet-C sterilisation box, automatic sanitiser dispenser and automatic soap dispensers. The units are developed at Tvasta’s 3D printing facility in Perungudi.
According to Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions’ co-founder Parivarthan Reddy, 3D printing technology could be used to design for performance and function without extra cost implications. “This makes individual customisations and personalisation possible, even at huge scale, for all strata of society,” he said.
Loic Jourdaine, director of Research and Development Saint-Gobain Research India, said: “The wall elements were printed at a workshop, transported and assembled at the site in a few hours. Manufacturing and assembling does not require skilled labour.”
Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions is part of the new incubator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, ASHA Incubator, established at the institute.
Tvasta was co-founded by Adithya V.S. and Parivarthan Reddy of the mechanical engineering department and Vidyashankar C. of electrical engineering department.