The spread of COVID-19 in India began in Pune, and the densely populated city is of the country's hot spots, with infection rates still on the rise.
While researching ways to help his local community Jayesh Bamnote, a Service Management Analyst at TMF Group, came up with the idea of designing potentially life-saving 3D printed masks to donate to police officers on the front line.
"My brother and his friend own a 3D printing company and they moved their five 3D printers home so that we could run the operation from there. There is a shortage of masks on the market and our 3D printed masks are reusable."
The trio designed the plastic, biodegradable masks to accommodate a filter that only needs changing once per day, reducing waste. The masks are easy to sanitise, giving officers peace of mind, and the mask's unique design fits all face shapes and sizes.
A single mask takes approximately four hours to print, and Jayesh says they have the capacity to produce 25 masks per day.
"Initially we funded 50 masks ourselves. When our friends and family found out, they donated 50,000 rupees which meant we could produce another 250 masks for frontline police officers. As a gesture of thanks, we have handwritten the names of each sponsor on every mask we've donated."
But Jayesh, his brother and friend are not stopping there. They're on a mission to raise a further 250,000 rupees (approximately €3,000) to fund:
- 5,000 more masks for police
- 1,500 masks for traffic officers
- around 10,000 masks for cleaning staff.
"We plan to continue producing masks for however long the pandemic lasts."The police officers' reaction to receiving the masks has given Jayesh the greatest satisfaction: "It brought a smile to their faces and gave them a sense of safety. And it's a good feeling, knowing we're using technology to benefit others."
Originally published 1 May 2020
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