Meet the 19-year-old who makes cool PPE kits for Covid warriors

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention. But for Nihaal Singh Adarsh from Mumbai, his doctor mother's necessity became the inspiration for his invention.

Student innovator Nihaal Singh Adarsh has come up with a compact innovation called Cov-Tech that is aimed at providing a ventilation system for PPE kits that are used by healthcare workers.
 

Nihaal, a second-year student of K J Somaiya College of Engineering, said: "Cov-Tech Ventilation System is like you are sitting under the fan even while you are inside the PPE suit. It takes the surrounding air, filters it and pushes it into the PPE suit. Normally, due to lack of ventilation, it is hot and humid within the PPE suit; our solution offers a way out of this uncomfortable experience by creating a steady airflow inside." 
 

According to Nihaal, the design of the ventilation system ensures a complete air seal from the PPE kit. It provides fresh air to the user within a gap of just 100 seconds.

The product can be worn around the waist, just like a belt. It can be attached with the conventional PPE kits. This not only keeps health workers well-ventilated while preventing bodily discomfort but also keeps them safe from various fungal infections.
 

The system, which costs Rs 5,499 per piece, comes with a lithium-ion battery that lasts for 6 to 8 hours.
 

How the idea took shape
 

Nihaal's mother, Dr Poonam Kaur Adarsh, has been treating COVID-19 patients at her clinic in Pune.
 

Nihaal decided to work on a solution. She would often narrate the situation when they would have to wear PPE kits for hours together and get themselves drenched in sweat. That was when 19-year-old Nihaal decided to do something about it. He created a prototype of his device while participating in a design challenge for COVID-related equipment, organized by the Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory's Technological Business Incubator.

The 19-year-old received assistance from Dr Ulhas Kharul of Pune-based National Chemical Laboratory and  Somaiya Vidyavihar University's Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory.
 

The prototype was a neck-mounted device, sucking in air through U-shaped air inlets, and had pillow-like structures which could be worn around the neck. However, experts told him that wearing it around the neck will be a big discomfort for doctors and health care workers due to the constant sound and vibration the device emitted.
 

Over the next few months, around 20 developmental prototypes and 11 ergonomic prototypes were built. For this, Nihaal was assisted by Gaurang Shetty, Chief Innovation Catalyst at RIIDL and CEO of Dassault Systems, Pune. 

Today, Nihaal's ambition has taken wings. He said, "I never thought of going commercial initially. I thought of making it only on a small scale and giving it to the doctors I personally know. But later on, when we made it feasible, I realized that the problem is such a massive one, something our healthcare workers face on a daily basis. That's when we thought of making a commercial plan so that it is available for everyone in need."
 

Ritwik Marathe, a second-year student of Design Engineering, and his batchmate Sayli Bhavasar also helped Nihaal in this project. Sayli handles the design of their website https://www.watttechnovations.com, as well as social media presence and digital content creation of the start-up.
 

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