DJMIT received a R&D Project worth Rupees Nine lakhs ninety thousand (Rs 9,90,000) from GUJCOST.

In early 2020, the world was in a global crisis because of Covid-19 pandemic. Researchers were globally working to find solutions against this deadly disease. In the light of this, in Aug 2020, proposals were invited by Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUJCOST) from the researchers of Gujarat State seeking financial support to develop solutions.

In response, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Institute of Technology (DJMIT) started working with Engineering Technique, Baroda to explore a possible and feasible solution. In Sept 2020, DJMIT signed an MOU with ET, Baroda to work collaboratively on designing and developing a 3D-printing based solution to combat COVID-19 and submitted a proposal to develop a wristband sanitizer using 3D printing technology.

In Nov 2020, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of GUJCOST scheduled an interaction with DJMIT on the proposal and DJMIT had to convince the feasibility of the proposal to GUJCOST, and TAC subsequently suggested some changes on the same. In response, DJMIT submitted a revised proposal in Dec 2020.

In response to revised proposal, GUJCOST funded Rupees Nine lakhs ninety thousand (Rs 9,90,000) to DJMIT in March 2021 with Dr. Manish Mehta (Principal Investigator, DJMIT), Prof. Gaurav Patel (Co-Investigator, DJMIT) and Mr. Swapnil Jadhav (Co-Investigator, ET). This R&D project is a step to bolster Industry Institute Collaboration.

In order to achieve research objectives, the necessary equipment’s and software worth Rs 5 lakhs were procured to establish a dedicated 3D printing lab at DJMIT in Oct 2021. Along with the procurement process, both DJMIT and ET were working on the design alternatives to develop the sanitizer wristband. DJMIT and ET developed a wearable hand-sanitizer dispensing wristband using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) & Digital Light Processing (DLP) technologies of 3D printing. PolyLactic Acid (PLA) and ThermoPlastic Elastomer (TPE) materials were used with FDM while Photopolymer elastomer resin was used with DLP technologies. The final project report was submitted by DJMIT in April 2022.

Under this project, in May 2022, DJMIT delegates presented a research paper in the International Conference (Pi-CET 2022) on Smart & Sustainable developments in Engineering & Technology at Parul University. The research paper was selected as the first runner up (2^nd position) among all the participants in the category of Mechanical & Allied Engineering. The research paper has also been selected for publication in American Institute of Physics (AIP) conference proceedings.

In June 2022, DJMIT delegates visited GUJCOST, Gandhinagar to present the research work done under the R&D project. The DJMIT delegates are thankful to the management for their support, guidance and for providing an environment for research.

Dr. Manish Mehta and Prof. Gaurav Patel (Mechanical Engineering Department)