Four students from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, in collaboration with an entrepreneur, have developed face shields which have been provided to healthcare professionals and police personnel who come in direct contact with COVID-19 infected people.

The students initially used 3-D printing technology to develop the shields. Their effort was much appreciated and soon demand for the shields increased after which a Chennai-based company came to their help.

Now, the group has shifted to the injection moulding method to cater to the demand. “Now we make 4,000 pieces a day,” said Pranit Mehta, a third-year dual degree student of Engineering Design.

The other students are Hari Ramachandran, a fifth-year dual degree student of Metallurgy; Anuj Khandalikar, third-year dual degree student of Engineering Design and Denil Chawda from the M.S. Aerospace Engineering department. They were guided by a couple of alumni and Professor Satya Chakravarthy of the Aerospace Engineering department.

The group has supplied around 25,000 shields so far and has an order for nearly 30,000 shields. They have supplied to hospitals in Cuddalore, Puducherry and Kanniyakumari so far.

The students are currently helping units replicate their model in Delhi, Indore and Mumbai after they received requests for the shields. “It is a social impact project. We are giving the shields free of cost to the police and we are running a fund-raiser campaign. We have got donations from people now,” Pranit said.

The need for funds came up as the cost of the shields rose. “With 3-D printing it cost us ₹100 each, but with injection moulding it costs ₹60 per piece. It is a not-for-profit initiative. The more people we reach, the more the impact will be,” he said.

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