NITK develops low cost, reusable face shields to fight Covid-19

National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, has developed a low-cost, reusable, transparent face shields from locally available materials.

Dr Arun M Isloor, professor and head at Department of Chemistry, NITK Surathkal, heading a team of volunteers of NITK for preparing such low-cost face shields said, “For making these type of transparent face shields, it costs a maximum of Rs 12.”

One of the important reasons for the rapid spread of the Covid-19 across the globe is due to the lack of availability of Personal Protecting Equipment (PPE) such as hand gloves, protective coverage, masks, face shield etc. Because of the non-availability of the face shields, police personnel and health workers are at high risk of being infected with the virus.

During the first phase, 300 such face shields were released by Prof K Uma Maheshwar Rao, Director of NITK, and were handed over to Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh.

Elaborating on the materials used, Dr Isloor said, “I have used a Yoga mat, polyester transparent sheet, a synthetic adhesive and velcro tape for manufacturing the face shields. The face shields can be used for at least 90-100 days and can be reused by just washing it thoroughly using soap water or by using 3-4 drops of hand sanitizer.”