Ideas flourish during the pandemic with Tej Naik’s portable respirators and contactless sanitizer dispensers, making the situation comparatively easier to deal with.
Powerland Agro Tractor Vehicles Private Limited (PATVPL), a private limited company, started by Narayan Naik, aims at changing the landscape of the utility and farming Industry in India by launching India’s first diesel multi utility all-terrain farm vehicle (ATV) at competitive price.
Tej Naik, completed his education from Cardiff, Wales returned to Goa, India to establish a unit that manufactured fibreglass auto components. Tej always wanted to add value to the lives of the Indian hinterland, namely the ‘Farming Sector’.
With Covid 19 having hit the world and India, Tej has come up with a prototype of a ventilator which is portable and can be used in times of emergency.
Tej has completed his under graduation from M.E.S College, Vasco and did his masters in Business from Cardiff University UK. He was always passionate about cars so once he returned back in 2012 he started his own company Kitart, to manufacture auto parts in Fiber glass. In 2014 along side his father Narayan Naik, set out on journey to make All-terrain Vehicles in India and as of today they are developing Electric utility vehicles for logistics and farm segment for India and International markets.
Tej speaks about the current pandemic and his idea of the ventilator. “The Covid-19 pandemic has spread globally killing close to 19000 people and more than 4,25,000 people infected as on 25thMarch 2020. There was a major shortage of ventilators with certain countries needing to make tough decisions like who will get the ventilator. India also had seen growing number of cases with more than 500 people infected and 11 deaths as on 25th march.
There are no official stats but as per our study online India is estimated to have max of only 40000 ventilators for a 1.3 billion population. If the number of Covid-19 cases increase, the effect can be catastrophic. Seeing cases rise worldwide and realizing there can be shortage of ventilators, our team decided to do a study to see if we can make portable respirators with readily available components that can be utilized in the time of emergency. So we came with the solution that delivers breath by electronically compressing the AMBU BAG (AB) with a pivoting arm, eliminating the need for human operator for the AB. This solution was also experimented by MIT and other universities world wide as well.”
Regarding the response to the idea, Tej says that doctors have been giving them feedback continuously and encouraging them to do this project. “They believe this machine can be very helpful in ambulances and rural places where high end ventilators can’t be utilized and also we can eliminate the need of an operator to provide oxygen manually.” They also have support from the Health Minister’s office and are willing to help when required.
Ideas are aplenty but they also need contribution and support for the materialization of the plan. Tej speaks about his team who helped in making this idea a reality. “Our team of 2 engineers, Amit Santra who is the chief designer, Mr. Datta Prasad Naik who is the electronic master mind and Narayan Naik (Director) who brain stormed the entire project. We also had support from doctors, Dr. Anish Lawande, Dr. Jatin amonkar and Dr. EmManuel Gracias. Baburao Desai, supported us with all the medical test equipments, with his inputs, which was highly encouraging and supportive throughout this endeavour.”
Tej then goes on to explain the process of building up the prototype. “The prototype was built with all the components we had in the factory. We had to alter the design thrice to find an easier way to manufacture the same. We sourced a few components from our doctor friends, medical and components suppliers.”
Regarding roadblocks faced in acquiring raw material Tej adds, “We could develop the prototype with the resources available with our suppliers but there is still a scarcity of resources in Goa and for mass production we have to procure components from other states.”
As of now, they are still in the test phase and require an emergency FDA approval once testing is completed.
Tej then goes on to speak about his second innovation, that of contact less sanitizer dispensers. “Powerland also has started manufacturing contact less sanitizer dispensers which is extremely beneficial, to be installed in all public places. A working prototype was made within 8 hours, has aroused interest all across Goa and Maharashtra.”
He explains the purpose behind the idea and its mechanism. Every Organisation like Banks, Government offices; Hospital and Corporate bodies have deployed Hand Sanitizer bottles as a precautionary measure. However while using these sanitizer bottles; they are constantly touched by too many hands increasing the risk further.
Thus, Powerland took the initiative to develop Contactless Hand Sanitizer Dispensers with the available resources and expertise it has in developing Electric Vehicles. Due to total lockdown since 22nd March 2020, it was tough to design and put in production such a machine; however Powerland managed to launch these dispensers at a minimum cost, so that every organization, schools, public places etc. can make use of the same to fight the Covid 19 collectively.
Powerland Contactless Hand Santizer Dispenser can be effectively placed at any place due to its convenient size, can be wall mounted or positioned on the table; they come with motion sensor dispensing, making it easy to use, has a fluid level indicator, controlled by their software, and comes with 1AMP AC to DC USB Adapter, this allows it to be used with power bank to power the device even during power failure. They come in attractive colors like Black/Red, Black/Green and White/Green and have a capacity of 5litre fluid with adjustable discharge rate of 1.25 to 2.5ml as recommended. Each dispensation cycle is timed at 3sec. per discharge. These dispensers are economically priced at Rs.- 4130/- inclusive of GST and comes with 1 year warranty on electronic components.
As a goodwill gesture, Powerland has installed 1 unit of its Dispensers at the office of the Health Department, Government of Goa.
To conclude Tej dishes out a few words of advice. “Necessity is the mother of invention. If you have the solution for any problem or can help during this situation you can write to us, with regards to any relevant projects and we will definitely take it up. We will always work towards the welfare of Society and endeavor to provide constant support in order to prevent the spread of Covid 19”.
