IIT Madras start-ups develop PPEs from 3D Printers and stationery materials

Team Udayavani, May 1, 2020, 10:26 AM IST

Indian Institute of Technology- Madras supported start-ups have developed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as face shields and intubation boxes from 3D Printers as well as commonly available stationery materials to protect doctors, nurses and other frontline workers fighting Covid-19.

3D-printed Face Shields and Intubation Boxes were developed by Fabheads Automation, an IIT Madras-incubated start-up that specializes in manufacturing parts from plastics and fibre-reinforced plastics.

Also, Face  Shields which are made using simple stationery items have been developed by an IIT Madras Student Start-up,Axis Defence Labs, founded by Sathvik Batte, a 2nd-year student, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras.

It is said that the start-up is supported by ‘Nirmaan’ the IIT Madras pre-incubator that provides guidance to help students get their ideas converted into products.

Now, in association with ‘CY4,’ an automotive start-up based in Chennai, and other start-ups across India, Axis Defence Labs is planning to distribute these face shields across the country.

The initial batches of PPEs have already been supplied to healthcare workers. Now they are in the process of being scaled-up for mass production for deployment to hospitals across the country at affordable rates.