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- SRMAP’s contribution made SRMIST the No.1 private university in India June 14, 2020
The very young SRM University-AP is already creating marvels by scaling new heights as a multidisciplinary research university. The 3-year-old university has published six very impactful research papers in a year in Nature Indexed journals. The notable research work helped significantly its sister aka principal institution SRM Institution of Science and Technology acquiring the rank of No.1 private university in India and 21 among Indian universities by the Nature Index 2020. The ranking was done based on Nature Index data from January 1st 2019 to December 31st 2019.
The Nature Index provides a perspective on high –quality research on the basis of published articles. The Nature Index provides a close to real-time proxy of high-quality research output and collaboration.
Nineteen research articles were published by the faculty members of SRMIST and its sister institutes between April 1st 2019 and March 31st 2020. These articles were compiled into a database by Nature Research to create the Nature Index rankings. Out of these nineteen articles, twelve were published by the Faculty Members of SRMIST, KTR Campus. One article was published by a faculty member of SRM University – Sikkim. The rest of the six articles were published by faculty members of SRM University- AP, Andhra Pradesh. Dr Sutharsan Govindrajan, Department of Biological Sciences; Dr Nimai Mishra, Dr S. Mannathan, Dr Mahesh Kumar Ravva, Department of Chemistry; Dr Siddhartha Ghosh and Dr Jatis Kumar Dash, Department of Physics played a pivotal role in achieving the honour for SRM University-AP. It is remarkable that SRM-AP, even in its budding stage, has contributed to around one third of the Nature Index score.
Dr Sutharsan’s paper, “A bacteriophage nucleus-like compartment shields DNA from CRISPR nucleases”, published in Nature, involves the discovery of novel strategies used by bacteriophages (viruses that kill bacteria) to overcome the bacterial CRISPR-Cas system, which are molecular scissors that are programmed to cut DNA. His findings have massive implications on the society as it has the ability to reshape the boundaries of the Phage-therapy in curing diseases.
Dr Mishra has published a paper titled “Broadband Defects Emission and Enhanced Ligand Raman Scattering in 0D Cs3Bi2I9 Colloidal Nanocrystals”. It is about excitonic 0D and 2D lead-halide perovskites that have been recently developed and investigated as new materials for light generation. In this work, a broadband (>1 eV) emission from newly synthesised 0D lead-free colloidal Cs3Bi2I9 nanocrystals (NCs) is reported. Remarkably, evidence of enhanced Raman scattering from the ligands is observed when attached to the NCs surface, an effect that is preliminarily attributed to strong exciton-ligands electronic coupling in these systems. Such interesting properties can be extremely appealing for a new class of low-cost materials suitable for solid-state lightning and sensing applications.
Dr Mannathan’s research article, “Palladium/Copper-Catalyzed Denitrogenative Alkylidenation and ortho-Alkynylation Reaction of 1,2,3-Benzotriazin-4(3H)-ones”, describes an environmentally friendly strategy to access various functionalised isoindolinones and 3-(imino)isobenzofuranones, which are important backbone in many natural products and biological active compounds. These reactions were enabled by an interesting Pd/Cu-cocatalyzed denitrogenative tandem alkynylation/cyclisation sequence. The strategy was also successfully employed to synthesise (Z)-3-benzylideneisobenzofuran-1(3H)-one derivatives in good to high yields.
Dr Mahesh’s paper is named “Harnessing Autoxidation of Aldehydes: In Situ Iodoarene Catalyzed Synthesis of Substituted 1,3,4-Oxadiazole, in the Presence of Molecular Oxygen”. In this study, a new methodology has been developed for the synthesis of substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles, which are essential pharmaceutical ingredients. We have modelled the reactivity of reactants, reactive intermediates, and products using computational protocols. Results obtained from these computational protocols are used to predict the reaction pathways and gain insights on the stability of products.
Dr Ghosh published “Direct Growth of Wafer-Scale, Transparent, p-Type Reduced-Graphene-Oxide-like Thin Films by Pulsed Laser Deposition”. His study reveals that reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is a derivative of widely used 2-D material called Graphene. Along with Graphene itself, rGO is also an exciting material for research communities due to its potential application in gas sensing, water purification and desalination, energy storage and flexible electronics. All these novel applications require a reproducible & scalable growth process for rGO thin films. In their research article, they have reported a single-step bottom-up growth process of reduced Graphene Oxide using a thin-film growth technique called Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD). Utilising the state-of-the-art laser beam scanning technology, they have been able to grow 4-inch wafer-scale rGO thin-films with ultra-smooth surfaces and unparallel thickness uniformity. Moreover, they have found that these rGO thin-films are transparent and conducting with some of the lowest extinction coefficients and refractive index values. They believe this novel growth process combined with the exotic opto-electronic properties (of rGO) will enable us to directly grow and integrate rGO thin-films on Si & metal-oxide based hetero-structures and will potentially move forward the rapid deployment of rGO for various applications.
Dr Dash’s article is titled as “Thickness-Insensitive Properties of α-MoO3 Nanosheets by Weak Interlayer Coupling”. Extensive use of portable electronic products and the rapidly growing commercial markets in smart electric appliances have created a seemingly high demand for flexible, wearable and foldable high-performance photoelectric devices. In the search for new materials to meet these criteria, one promising solution may be the two-dimensional (2D) layered heterostructures, assembled by stacking different conventional 2D materials in hetero-layered architectures. Alpha (α) phase-molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) is one of the promising 2D oxides, which is a chemically stable semiconductor with a high dielectric constant. The high resistive tunnelling and dielectric constant also shows that α- MoO3 nanosheet can be used as a promising dielectric or tunnel barrier. Therefore, the epitaxially grown MoO3 can be an important candidate in the field of 2D materials-based nanoelectronics. α- MoO3 layers can also be used as dielectrics for supercapacitors, and channel materials for high power electronics. Besides these, heterojunctions like Graphene-α- MoO3 and α- MoO3 /MoS2 has its applications in Field effect transistors (FETs), battery cathode materials, and various sensors.
The Nature Index is a database of author affiliations and institutional relationships. The index tracks contributions to research articles published in 82 high-quality natural science journals, chosen by an independent group of researchers. This Index provides absolute and fractional counts of article publication at the institutional and national level and, as such, is an indicator of global high-quality research output and collaboration.
Continue reading → - SRM-AP’s liaison with TEDx to promote active thinking June 10, 2020
Globally, TEDx events are incredibly appealing for their cutting-edge and progressive ideas from the speakers. TEDx carefully curates, magnifies, and develops these ideas, that can genuinely change the world for the better. SRM University AP now joins the TEDx community to take it to an entirely new level.
A TEDx event is a local gathering where live TED-like talks and performances are shared with the community. TEDx events are thoroughly planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis. The content and design of each TEDx event is unique and developed independently, but all of them are expected to abide by the standards and rules set by TED. This event can be extremely advantageous to the university not only in terms of the knowledge that the talks bring but because of the ambience, optics & publicity that it provides.
“We’ve been working towards acquiring the license for months, and we are pleased to inform that our application for TEDxSRMUniversityAP has finally been approved! The application process involved presenting our ideas and defending the questions by the representatives at TED. Overall, it was a good experience,” said Dr Bhanukiran, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. This license permits SRM University- AP to organise one TEDx event within the next 12 months which means it is valid till May 12, 2021, and allows an attendee limit up to 100.
SRM University- AP is now setting up a dedicated website for the event where all the information will soon be announced. The students, staff and faculty are all thrilled to facilitate the event. The TEDx team will meet soon to discuss and finalise the details of the event.
Continue reading → - Scaling up hydrogen production: an alternative energy source to conventional fuels May 27, 2020
Chemical Engineering Journal publishes paper of Dr. Lakhveer Singh with Impact Factor 8.34
Dr. Lakhveer Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh published a paper in the Chemical Engineering Journal with an Impact Factor of 8.34. His paper titled, Breaking the Loop: Tackling Homoacetogenesis by Chloroform to Halt Hydrogen Production-Consumption Loop in Single Chamber Microbial Electrolysis Cells is published in collaboration with Oregon State University.
Single Chamber Microbial Electrochemical Cells reactor is used to produce hydrogen. Since wastewater is used in the process, hydrogen consumers are present inside the reactors. The presence of homo acetogenesis and hydrogen production-consumption loop significantly hinders the efficient hydrogen recovery from this reactor. Removal of homo acetogenins remained a challenge that is mitigated by the research work conducted in this paper. Dr. Lakhveer informs, “Prof. Hong Liu is the mother of the bioelectrochemical system. I used to work with her for 1.5 years during my Post Doctorate. We developed the method to inhibit homo acetogenins in bioelectrochemical fuel cells for the first time to exhibit homo acetogenins which enhance the hydrogen production in scaled-up microbial electrochemical (MEC).”
Method to inhibit homo acetogenins in bioelectrochemical fuel cells
A small concentration of chloroform is used in the process, which after the experiment leaves traces of merely 0.001% which is negligible. Furthermore, 0.02 ml chloroform is used in ten litres of reactors, negating the chance of causing damage to the environment. “Microbial community analysis revealed that the amount ofhomoacetogenic Acetobacterium spp. was eliminated in the cathodic biofilms and planktonic cells by chloroform.”, enlightens Dr. Lakhveer. This method can also be applied in large scale reactors to enhance hydrogen production by inhibiting homo acetogenins. The hydrogen production rate is nearly 20 litres per hour from the reactor. The application of this reactor is the production of energy which can be used as an alternative to conventional fuel.
Advancing the work, Dr. Lakhveer aspires to improve this method in the future, through reducing the residual chloroform concentration and developing more environment-friendly inhibitor using similar mechanisms, that may lead to the practical application in MECs.
Continue reading → - SRM AP students’ illustrious achievements at LA Hacks 2020 May 26, 2020
Amid the unparalleled catastrophe in the form of widespread COVID-19, SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh, students at Semester Abroad Program develop projects to combat the crisis. Vyshnavi G and Padmateja, 3rd year, Computer Science and Engineering students went to University of Wisconsin, Madison, and University of California, Berkeley respectively for their Semester Abroad Program. During their stay, they presented two projects at LA Hacks 2020, Southern California, and won accolades galore. The hackathon is one of the largest in the world and was held on March 27-29. Many hackers and innovators participated to create and collaborate at UCLA’s virtual event. SRM AP students submitted two projects in this hackathon as a single team and emerged as a finalist in the “Best Overall Hack”. The students developed Safely, the project title sponsored by Facebook as “Best Collaboration Hack”, and also worked on Go Farm which was sponsored by Honey as “Best Consumer Hack”. The team coordinated through Slack as the hackathon was turned into a virtual competition with the unfortunate outbreak of COVID-19.
Safely is a society-based pandemic monitoring application for reporting and tracking precise geolocations of COVID-19 cases. Safely allows users to report their own condition, be it healthy, symptomatic, diagnosed, or recovered along with their geolocation. The application enables users to identify areas around them on a map. Based on the shade of the regions displayed on the map, the user deciphers the risk of contagion. Areas with symptomatic users display lighter shades, whereas locations with diagnosed patients and regions with a high concentration of affected users, show up as darker shades on the map. “With COVID-19 spreading rapidly, there are not enough resources to find or report the exact geographical information of new cases. People would want to be cautious by avoiding specific locations that have a lot of reported cases. Also, it enables help agencies to recognize areas where resources are required to be sent. Tracking COVID-19 can be especially difficult in developing countries with weaker infrastructure. “, Vyshnavi G explains the issues that inspired her to build this project.
GoFarm primarily benefits the farmers and improves consumer satisfaction. It is an application where a farmer can post information regarding harvested crops including vegetables, pulses along with quoting the price of the products. The customer can search for nearby farms using google maps and purchase through this platform. Padmateja says, “In India where agriculture sector employs more than 50% of the total workforce, we have come across many incidents in which farmers are suffering because of high debt burdens, corruption in subsidies, and crop failure. We thought to use our skills to develop an application that gives them profit. Not getting enough money for their crop is the most serious problem that they are facing right now. At the same time, we decided to emphasize on the consumer satisfaction. Eliminating third parties and connecting farmers with customers would be helpful in upgrading the agricultural sector. Due to COVID-19 outbreak, it has become more crucial for the consumers to be informed regarding stores responsible for the delivery of the product.”
In the future, the team wants to add a crop recommendation system for the farmers in the platform based on weather conditions. The students also plan to expand the availability of the application to many farmers and consumers across the nation.
Continue reading → - AP Ministers unveiled Face Shield 2.0 developed by SRM AP student Mohan Aditya May 22, 2020
Aditya with Education Minister and MP of Andhra Pradesh Attesting the signs of a true researcher, SRM University AP student P. Mohan Aditya, 2nd year, Mechanical Engineering, develops a highly useful face shield that costs Rs. 15 per piece. “Face Shield 2.0”, as named by Aditya was unveiled at the Velagapudi Secretariat on Tuesday evening, where the student was seen wearing the Face Shield and preparing them. The Sophisticated Corona Face Shield was handed over to Adimulapu Suresh, the Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh, and Nandigam Suresh, Member of Parliament from Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh, who may eventually distribute it to the public. The masks were circulated among the police and paramedics from the government, who appreciated Mohan Aditya for this initiative.
Aditya with MinistersThe lightweight face shield is easy to wear, comfortable, yet durable. It protects a person’s entire face from exposures with a thin layer of transparent plastic film that serves as an outer defence. It is a piece of protective equipment that safeguards the face against exposure to the potent threat of infection and diseases. The headband of the face shield is made of cardboard which is 100% degradable and the plastic shield can be reused, making the product eco-friendly.
AP Ministers inspecting Face Shield 2.0
Wearing the ‘Face Shield 2.0’ will help reduce the threat of Coronavirus, making it easier for the police, medical personnel, municipal workers, people working in sanitizing department, people working in the essential goods sector to serve the nation’s public. It can also be used by virus-infected patients to reduce the plausibility of spreading the virus. Moreover, several lakhs of students of schools, colleges and universities could use the Face Shield 2.0 when they come back to the educational institutions after the lockdown is lifted.
The management of SRM AP applauded the research work of Mohan Aditya, praising his new and inspiring invention that is useful to the society. Dr. P Sathyanarayanan, President, SRM University-AP, and Prof. D Narayana Rao, Pro Vice Chancellor, SRM University-AP, celebrated the commendable intelligence of the student and congratulated him for developing the face shield using new technology.
Continue reading → - Next Tech Lab student excels at ETH Denver Hackathon 2020 May 22, 2020
Enabling accurate and cost-efficient ways to conduct a market survey
SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh Next Tech Lab student churns out the opportunity to exhibit her acumen at ETHDenver Hackathon 2020. Vyshnavi G, 3rd year, Computer Science and Engineering student, nurtures her coding skills, and emerged triumphant by winning the ETH Denver Hackathon 2020. This hackathon focuses on supporting and building the future technology. The hackathon was conducted at Denver with 500 participants. Vyshnavi G also received a bounty of $500 from SKALE and $500 from Chainlink for the project. The project provides value to Dapp creators by improving understanding of their position and deploying inexpensive ways to gather competitive intel. This application ensures security and is developed using blockchain technology.
Vyshnavi G explains, “A Dapp stores data in a decentralized database and uses decentralized computing resources to work. In a trustless environment, the user needs to be able to verify the kind of application and its working to prevent scam and malware, as well as to protect personal data and assets. Therefore, companies such as Chainlink and Skale that uses blockchain technology, provided the user analytics of their Dapp and expected participants to generate ideas to improve the companies’ market strategy. Our application collects information about the users, and the application can be implemented by any Dapp creator in every industry, be it gaming, exchanges etc.”
The project of Vyshnavi G provides Dapp creators with important metrics about their users. It gives information regarding the time spent by users on competitors’ app, contacts that the users are interacting with, count of unique users, and the count of loyal users of the competitors. “There are many Dapps in the market which offers the information about the user analytics of Dapp. However, they restrict to presenting data pertaining to a single industry whereas, our app mitigates this limitation by offering data source to be used by multiple industries.”, Vyshnavi G explains the uniqueness of the project. When asked regarding her take away from the Hackathon, Vyshnavi G says, “ The ETH Denver Hackathon 2020 gives a brilliant opportunity to work alongside the developers, thought leaders, advisers, and companies who are making the infrastructure and applications that will empower the industries in the future.”
Continue reading → - Online adaptive fast output voltage tracking in DC power supply system May 15, 2020
Remarkable research of Dr. Tousif Khan N is honoured with APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial International Travel Award
SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh faculty, Dr. Tousif Khan N, Assistant Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, is to present a paper “Laguerre Neural Network Driven Adaptive Control of DC-DC Step Down Converter” in the renowned International Federation for Automatic Control (IFAC) World Congress to be held in Germany during July 12-17, 2020. Further this research article is also selected for the prestigious APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial International Travel Award by the Automatic Control and Dynamic Optimization Society (ACDOS) chaired by Professor Ravi Gudi of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
The research work of Dr. Tousif proposes a novel Laguerre neural network estimation technique for the approximation of unknown and uncertain load function, followed by its subsequent compensation in the adaptive backstepping controller. A detailed design of the proposed estimator and adaptive backstepping controller along with closed loop asymptotic stability have been presented. Further, the proposed control mechanism is evaluated through extensive numerical simulations while subjecting the converter to input voltage, reference voltage, and load resistance perturbations. Furthermore, the results are verified by testing the proposed controller on a laboratory prototype with DSP based TM320F240 controller board. The analysis of results reveals that the proposed control methodology for DC-DC step down converter offers a faster transient output voltage tracking with smooth and satisfactory inductor current response over a wide operating range. Dr. Tousif informs, “Under the class of DC-DC converters, the dynamics of DC-DC step down converter are nonlinear in nature and are largely influenced by both parametric and unanticipated external perturbations. In its closed loop operation, obtaining a precise output voltage tracking besides satisfactorily inductor current response is a challenging control objective. Hence, in this regard, this article proposes a solution.”
Electric power supply is the principal entity behind any electrical circuits and systems. Irrespective of their function in the digital domain, these circuits necessarily require a reliable and efficient energy source for their operations. Among the two existing forms of electrical energy, namely, the direct current (DC) and the alternating current (AC), the DC power finds wide use in numerous applications in the field of telecommunication, instrumentation, medical electronics, aerospace, defence and power transmission.
Ever since the fundamental innovations in DC systems by Thomas Alva Edison in 1880, DC rectification, and modulation method have remained central to various utilities. During the initial years, DC power conversion primarily resorted to the use of vacuum tube technology in delivering a desirable level of voltage from an AC source. The rectification stage was subsequently followed by filtering of the voltage at the output end. Nonetheless, the vacuum tube technology supported very low current density and featured a high ripple content in the DC voltage. Additionally, the output voltage was inconsistent or rather unregulated, making it inappropriate for DC power operated electrical and electronic systems. Much later in 1967, integrated series regulators were developed which eventually became popular as linear power supplies (LPS). Such a classical DC power generation method involved an AC transformer, AC-DC rectifier, and a voltage regulator in its assembly. The transistors in LPS operate under active region and dissipate large amounts of heat due to the voltage drop while high current flows through the collector-emitter junction, thereby causing substantial power loss and a very low energy efficiency. Even though they characterize the low level of noise and find better suitability in audio applications, yet their critical limitations of huge size, heavy weight and high cost make them infeasible for use in portable electronic devices.
In tandem to these aforementioned developments, the advancements in power semiconductor technology led to the invention of low cost reliable power switches exhibiting fast switching response. This proved to be instrumental in building an energy efficient switched mode power supply which gradually gained popularity. “Its impact on electrical technology was phenomenal, replacing conventional linear voltage supplies with switched mode power supplies giving rise to enhanced efficiency, light weight, compactness, and comparably lower cost. Such a modern DC conversion system primarily includes DC-DC converters, wherein the rectified input voltage is fed to the DC-DC converter circuits for obtaining specific voltage levels. The primary objective in DC-DC converters is to transfer the energy among different DC circuits functioning at a specific voltage and current levels. This process of energy transfer is performed by temporarily storing the energy from the input source in an operating mode, followed by releasing it in the other operational mode of the converter. Thus, one level of DC input voltage is converted to another level of average DC output voltage at the load end. Meanwhile, the converter being ideal is expected to consume no energy. Any consumption of energy in the converter interface amounts to direct power loss in the overall supply system. Typically, converters render high input-output conversion.”, enlightens Dr. Tousif Khan N. His notable research work offers to mitigate these issues, leading to the venerated APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial International Travel Award. Advancing his work in the future, Dr. Tousif will be closely working on the society’s activities with ACDOS as a member for mutual benefit.
Continue reading → - Achieving dreams through depicting freedom May 14, 2020
Using spices, SRM AP student creates a life-size painting to win the Guinness World Record title
Tatineni Sreya, a first year Electronics and Communication Engineering student of SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh, became the cynosure of all eyes at the Tech Fest held at the university campus in September 2019.
Life-size painting using spicesCoinciding with the valedictory session of a two-day Tech Fest hosted by the university’s management at the campus, Sreya attracted eyeballs by painting on a 588 square feet canvas in a span of 4 hours and 15 minutes using spices (turmeric powder and vermilion). The feat was recorded in the presence of a panel of jury to claim a place for Sreya in the Guinness Book of World Records. On Wednesday, her painting reached the pinnacle when the Guinness World Records Committee sent an e-mail to the university ownership announcing that the title has been awarded to Sreya. The Cherian Committee has broadcasted that the World Records will be awarded in recognition of the wellbeing of the student. The World Record title certificate will be issued soon.
Sreya started the painting of a little girl standing on a cliff and absorbing in the beauty of the rising sun, at 11.30 a.m. and concluded the act exactly at 3.45 p.m. “The painting is about a girl rejoicing freedom mimicking my emotion after I was done with my stressful high school days. While dealing with the pressure at school, I wanted to prove that zeal and passion can steer one to achieve monumental achievements. “, explains Sreya.
Sreya working on the painting
Sreya applied to Guinness Book of World Records in January when she was preparing for her high school finals and was searching for a UG college to get into. Sreya narrates, “I finally got into SRM AP in June and was adjusting to the new surroundings and environment when we had a Tech Fest meeting. We were asked to speak about ourselves. I informed my fellow students and the professors regarding my application to Guinness Book of World Records and knack for painting. It was proposed by one of the faculty members during a meeting that I should attempt on the painting during the Tech Fest. Although it was challenging to balance academics, Tech Fest activities, and other club activities, along with gearing up for the attempt, I was able to build upon the planning in a short span of time with my parents and friends supporting me.”
On the culminating day, Architect T. Ramakrishna, after measuring the exact size of the painting and other aspects stipulated by the Record Book, recorded the ‘surveyor’s statement.’ K. Manohar from Vijayawada Food Testing Laboratory analyzed and certified the products used in the painting while Police Officials P.V.R.K. Prasad and Ravi, Chartered Accountant Krishna Reddy and Advocate Rami Reddy, sat through to witness the act and made their observations.
Sreya’s successful attempt Immediately after she finished the painting, Sreya’s friends greeted her with cheers and lifted her on their shoulders. On Wednesday, the Tech Fest Committee 2019 proudly declared, “One of our committee member Sreya Tatineni’s attempt for Guinness World record is successful. She won the Guinness world record in Largest Spice painting.” Dr. Sathyanarayanan, the President of the University, Prof. Narayana Rao, Pro Vice-Chancellor, and Dr. D. Gunasekaran, Registrar congratulated Sreya for this efficacious attempt. Dr. D Gunasekaran applauds Sreya saying. “Ms Sreya Tatineni has secured an immaculate place in the Guinness World Records for the largest spice painting done during the Techfest 2019. Special thanks to her parents. SRMAP is proud of Sreya. Thanks to the Techfest Organizing Committee 2019 for making this happen.”
Sreya says “I was in happy tears after my attempt was done as I got the picture that I planned of. My family, friends, and my professors at SRM AP were very supportive and encouraged me in all the phases related to this attempt. To be honest, receiving this humongous award from Guinness Book of World Records is the proudest and happiest moment of my life till date. Getting into Guinness Book of World Records is never a small thing. It will be one of the biggest days in my life that I will cherish forever. In the future, I hope to make an attempt at something different.”
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Continue reading → - Young Engineer’s endeavour to fight COVID-19: Developed “Face Shield 2.0” May 10, 2020
During the unprecedented crisis, when the world is slowly falling into despair, the talented students of SRM University- AP are using the time for brainstorming and innovation. Attesting the signs of a true researcher, P. Mohan Aditya, a 2nd – year Mechanical Engineering student, represents the future generation well by developing a highly useful face shield that costs less than a plate of snacks.
Aditya with his ‘Face Shield 2.0’Mr Aditya has named it “Face Shield 2.0”. The face shield is very lightweight, easy to wear, comfortable yet durable. It protects a person’s entire face from hazards with a thin layer of transparent plastic film that serves as an outer defence. It is a protective equipment to guard the face against exposure to the potentially infectious materials. This face shield is biodegradable as the headband is made of cardboard(paper) which is 100% degradable material and the plastic can be reused. The Face Shield comes only at a price of INR 15.
The Face Shield 2.0 was manufactured using the CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) machine through which Aditya designed a headband, and the shape of the transparent plastic film was created using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software. “I gave this CAD model as an input to the CNC machine. Now the CNC machine software analysed the CAD model and started to cut the cardboard and transparent sheet according to the drawing provided as an input. Thus, I managed to bring down the production time for manufacturing and assembling the Face shield in less than 2minutes,” explained Aditya. A 3 Ply Corrugated Cardboard Sheet had been used in making the headband so that the headband becomes durable, comfortable and lightweight. The Bursting Strength of the Cardboard sheet is 16kg/sq.cm. A thick 175-micron transparent plastic sheet has been placed over the headband to protect the person against the virus. This also forms a barrier that keeps people from easily touching their faces. The transparent film also helps in allowing the visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception.
CNC Machine
The other innovative features of the face shield are – a cushioning type of structure has been attached to the headband so that the person wearing it for a long time does not get strained. This structure helps the person to wear the face shield comfortably. By providing the elastic band to this face shield, any person with different head circumferences can wear it easily.
Wearing this ‘Face Shield 2.0’ will help the police, medical personnel, municipal workers, people working in sanitizing department, people working in the essential goods sector by not getting infected by the virus. It can also be used by virus-infected patients so that the chance of spreading the virus to a healthy person can be decreased. Moreover, several lakhs of students of schools, colleges and universities could use the Face Shield 2.0 when they come back to the educational institutions after the lockdown is lifted.
Machine processing a cardboard Mohan Aditya always wanted to make a difference. So, when he read in many articles and newspapers that there is a huge shortage of the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in the world, the idea of making a face shield crossed his mind. “I thought to make a face shield which is 100% biodegradable, low in cost and also gives protection to the facial area and associated mucous membranes (Eyes, Nose, Mouth) which are the possible entries for a virus to infect people,” said Aditya.
Mohan Aditya wants to be a successful engineer in life. He is very passionate about making useful gadgets. His previous endeavour with his team successfully ended up in making an Electric bicycle by using a 24V 250Watt DC motor powered a 12V and 12Ah battery. At present, they are working on the retrofit of an old IC Bike into brand new Electric Bike. Our young engineer P. Mohan Aditya truly one of those people whom the future world can rely upon.
Continue reading → - Cost-effective shield against Coronavirus May 2, 2020
Dr. Panchagunula Jayaprakash designs an improved alternative to regular masks
Dr. Panchagunula Jayaprakash, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, has designed a FACE SHIELD embedded with 3D printing technology. During this pandemic that has led to an unprecedented global crisis, this face protection devised to protect users from the Novel Coronavirus, is made available at the minimum rate of Rs. 20 each. The major drawback of the commercially available Face Shields for engineering applications is its heavy weight which causes discomfort if worn for a longer period of time. This face mask that uses 3D printing technology alleviates the limitations of the regular masks currently used by doctors, policemen, and journalists.
Head mounted Face Sheild
“With the advent of Covid-19, and due to the shortage of personal protective equipment, the health workers such as Doctors, Sanitary staff and Police are also getting infected. As they are the backbone of the society, I thought of designing a light weight Face Shield using 3D Printing (3DP) or Additive Manufacturing technique. The rudimentary advantages of 3D printing technology is the design flexibility and less lead time to manufacturing. “, explains Dr. Jayaprakash.
Creation of CAD model
3D Printing
The regular masks barely cover the nose and mouth, whereas the Face Shield will be able to protect the eyes, mouth, nose, and ears so that one cannot get infected by the virus. Some of the medical and police personnel who use the regular masks suffer from facial irritation, making the Face Shield a comfortable and more effective alternative for all government officials on Covid-19 duty.
Physical component
Dr. Jayapraksh further says, “While manufacturing the Face Shield, 3D printing technology is used for designing a headband, upon which a 100 micron thick transparent plastic sheet is attached to ensure superior protection against the virus. It prevents air, dust, and liquids that are contaminated to come in contact with people. Also, there are no probable side effects on using the mask. If the government approves of its marketing, the face mask can be distributed among the public to prevent the widespread of Novel Coronavirus.”
OHP sheet assembly
The management of SRM AP, Andhra Pradesh applauds Dr. Jayaprakash on designing the mask after relentlessly working on it for several days. Prof. Narayana Rao, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University, has written to Adimulapu Suresh, Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh, and Alla Kalikrishna Srinivas, Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Minister for Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education, Andhra Pradesh, highlighting the importance of the facial cover and the many ways it can be regarded as a boon to the society as a whole. He said that the Face Shield would be beneficial to millions of students who would be attending regular classes once the educational institutions reopen.
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