Amidst the ongoing COVID crisis, Hemant Usgaonkar and Frank Fernandes, two highly experienced and skilled engineers bring to Goa and Goans, ‘U-Fra’ sanitizer units.
Owing to the fact that the globe is presently battling the deadly Coronavirus pandemic; hygiene, safety and sanitization related norms have begun to take shape of the new normal. While people, especially in a tiny state like Goa are taking every possible precaution to keep themselves safe, what we needed is an innovative manufacturing process during this time that is of utmost significance to one and all in their battle against COVID; and that is what U-Fra sanitizer units are all about.
Created, designed and marketed by two experienced Goan engineers, Hemant Usgaonkar, former general manager and location in-charge, Siemens Goa, presently an entrepreneur and consultant with a rich experience in power distribution and healthcare sector in Goa, alongside Frank Fernandes, owner of FM Instrumentation, an ISO approved organization for manufacturing processes – bring together their devotion for innovative manufacturing in the form of U-Fra (meaning ‘the one who spreads joy’) sanitizer units that make use of germicidal sources for sanitization wherein it employs UVC (ultraviolet) power to break down the structure of viruses and pathogens such as the novel Corona virus at a typical wavelength of 254 nano meters.
The UVC power dosage in the U-Fra sanitizer units can be extended to areas where the risk of getting infected seems high, such as waiting rooms, hospital beds, etc where the UVC rays radiated by the unit attacks pathogens and has been designed keeping the safety of people in mind with provisions to control the level of the UVC dosage within the units. Unlike other sanitizers, the U-Fra sanitizer is a one-time cost product that avoids recurring costs of consumables wherein performance and usage is not personified as a result of which voids arising due to person dependency is eliminated.
Explaining the working mechanism of the sanitizer unit, Hemant and Frank mention that they have two models under the U-Fra brand i.e. the ‘Box’ model and the ‘Tower’ model. While the Box model is of significance to sanitize face masks, face shields, groceries, etc the Tower model could be of immense use to sanitize larger spaces.
The radiation emitting from the units does not affect any properties of the material that is sanitized within; thus, making it user friendly with a one-button operation inculcating features programmed to its requirements. Moreover, the Box model has a capacity of 40 litre – quite a sizeable number of articles of varied shapes and sizes can be accommodated within the unit. In other words, U-Fra sanitizer units are products, that when used on masks and shields, make them as good as new, thus saving one the cost of purchasing new ones at regular intervals. Similarly when used upon groceries, one is assured that they are free from the virus upon coming on contact with the UVC rays emitted from the unit.
U-Fra is an entirely Goan creation that has been thought of, designed and manufactured
in Ponda, within the premises of Frank’s organization FM Instrumentation, by local talent and has been created with an objective to benefits Goans at the grass root level. Hemant says, “Since U-Fra is a Goan product, we would wholly cater to customisations to the extent possible as per customer requirements and would also ensure that quick service and upgrades would be made available.”
Commenting on the response that this unique product has received, Hemant and Frank say that the demand for this product has been quite high so far; that too, just by means of word- of-mouth where they have been flooded with enquiries from various stakeholders across Goa and few bookings for the units have also been registered.
Finally, commenting on their plan for the future of the product Hemant mentions that some dealers across the state have already come forward and shown interest in stocking the unit. In addition, since both Hemant and Frank have rich experience in handling local industries and multinational companies where quality, price and regulatory requirements are of paramount importance, customers have nothing less but to gain from U-Fra! “It is about time we begin to groom Goa as a manufacturing hub for quality products with the potential to address the Indian market.
Endeavours such as U-Fra would eventually help in developing the Goan ecosystem and attract Goans who are away from the state to come back to conceive state-of-the art products and become increasingly competitive”, says Hemant
