aking a leaf out of the year 2020 when the world was hit by a pandemic, students of Shiv Nadar School (a not-for-profit initiative of the Shiv Nadar Foundation) have tried to address the concerns of contaminated surfaces in public areas by creating a novel innovation. They have come up with SAFE, a self-sanitizing bench installed with UV sterilizing light, which can reduce the risk of transmitting infections like Viral Conjunctivitis, Influenza and Hepatitis A, besides COVID 19.
This bench works through ultrasonic sensors which automatically switch on once the user gets off, followed by an automatic sanitization process through the UV light. Interestingly, the bench also has a QR code that gives the exact date and time of the last sanitization process.
Given the current pandemic and the increased concerns around viral infections spreading through contaminated surfaces, the bench is an important solution for public places like hospitals, malls and parks, allowing users the comfort of safety while at rest.
The innovation is an outcome of the Capstone Project at Shiv Nadar School, where students are encouraged to ideate and devise an economically viable and creative solution to address a real world problem. It was presented in the school’s annual tech event Colloquium 2020 which happened virtually and was assessed by an external jury.
