Meet 19-year old Nihaal Singh Adarsh who has designed a "Cool PPE Kit" for the healthcare workers!

A student of KJ Somaiya College of Engineering in Mumbai, Nihaal Singh Adarsh has named this cool belt-like wearable ventilation system 'Cov-Tech'.

Our frontline workers are working day and night. It will not be wrong to say that this pandemic has tested the patience of all our healthcare workers more than anyone else. Wearing PPT kits and sweating constantly during their COVID duty for hours is nowhere near easy. Seeing his mother going through the same, Nihaal Singh Adarsh decided to do something. And, guess what? He ended up designing a cool PPE kit!

" My mom was overwhelmed. She had hugged me. Being a doctor she knows how big the problem was. She was really glad that her own son has done something for the doctors and other healthcare workers. She was also the first one to try Cov-Tech, and kept giving her feedback on the trial units.", he said.

Due to the lack of ventilation, the regular PPE Kits are hot and end up drenching the healthcare workers in sweat. Cov-Tech takes the surrounding air, filters it, and then pushes it into the PPE suit. It ensures a complete air seal while providing fresh air to the user every 100 seconds.

It took Nihaal exactly a year to make the final product!

A design challenge for COVID-related equipment, organized by Technological Business Incubator, Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory (RIIDL) pushed Nihaal to work on this project. He developed a model in the first 20 days. After a year, the initial prototype of Cov-Tech emerged. This prototype was sucking in air through U-shaped air inlets and could be worn around the neck. Nihaal then reached out to Dr. Vinayak Mane in Pune for unbiased feedback, who pointed out that wearing it around the neck will not be comfortable.

" When you are innovating something, things don't go well all at once. There were many technical issues, and it was frustrating. I wanted to give up at times. Many times I felt there's no use as it is not going anywhere. I was in college, I would see my friends celebrating their end semester, and I was still grinding. Even until February, I wasn't sure about the final product. But, now it's here and was totally worth all the efforts.", he said.

Before giving a nod to the final design, Nihaal had to work on around 20 developmental prototypes and 11 ergonomic prototypes. After getting help from Gaurang Shetty, Chief Innovation Catalyst at RIIDL and CEO of Dassault Systems, Pune, the final design of the PPE Kit was decided. This one looked like a belt and could be worn around the waist. It can keep the health workers well-ventilated, and also save them from fungal infections. " I owe a lot of RIIDL. Also, Mr. Gaurang Shetty is like my family. I reach out to him for doubts, and the whole team of RIIDL looks after me like their own child.", he said.

Owning a start-up at an age of 19

After receiving a grant of Rs.10 Lakhs for prototype development and product innovation by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Nihaal has come up with a start-up called Watt Technovations. " It feels great to be owning a startup right now. I am really glad that without spending a single rupee, I have reached out to so many people across India and abroad. I am currently focussing on this product and will try to help as many doctors as I can. Later on, I would like to work on improving the med-tech sector. I am planning to work on wireless stethoscopes in the future.", he said.

This Cool PPE Kit is now being used in Pune's Sai Sneh hospital and Lotus Multi-Specialty Hospital. " Our first batch of units has 25 pieces. The feedback has been amazing. It has also being used by some of the staff doing the afternoon duty, and they have loved it. There are around 25 doctors using the device currently. We are now working on ramping up the production.", he mentioned.

Would like to thank my friends!

At the age of 19 doing something this big really requires one to be strong and to work on multiple things. Nihaal feels it would have not been possible without the support of his friends and family. From calling up at midnight, to seeing them helping in the work, Nihaal dedicates the success of his Cool PPE Kit to them as well. " I really want to thank my friends Sayli Bhavsar, Dhwani Doshi, Mihika Jadhav, Aditya Anekar, and many more as they've helped me with my studies. They were always there whenever I needed them".

Also Read: The tale of the frontline workers: Doctors share incidents that they believe will remain with them throughout their lives

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