A team of engineers, technologists and technicians from the Mechatronics Department of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) have designed and produced two types of ventilators in a bid to curb the coronavirus ravaging the country.
The team has also produced hand wash and hand sanitizers which could be quickly reproduced to stem the shortage of equipment in the country.
A statement by the academy Public Relations Officer, Major Abdullahi Mohammed made available to newsmen on Friday, said the commandant of the academy, Major General Jamil Sarham, had charged the team to rapidly develop affordable ventilators using readily available components.
According to the statement, “The team was also tasked to develop the capacity of producing at least 30 ventilators in a month. This is against the backdrop of the high cost of foreign-made ventilators and the present difficulties associated with procuring these.
“Presenting their report to the Commandant, head of the team who is also Head of Department Mechatronics, Major Abubakar Surajo Imam, disclosed that his team was able to, within a week, design and produce two unique ventilators that could be quickly deployed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
“According to him, both ventilators, NDA Type 1 and NDA Type 2, could be reproduced cheaply and noted that currently, the academy has the capacity of producing 30 ventilators in a month.
“Speaking further, he disclosed that NDA Type 1 ventilator is a fully automated system with an interactive user-interface and 4 potentiometres for adjusting air and oxygen parameters.
“Similarly, the NDA Type 2 is also fully automated, operates with a 2 KVA self-sustaining onboard inverter equipped with a military-grade lithium battery.
“He noted that both prototypes have been subjected to a series of technical performance evaluation tests with impressive results.”
The statement quoted the commandant, Major General Jamil Sarham, to have commended the effort of the team and pledged to continue to support all research efforts in the Academy in order to proffer solutions to various problems affecting the country.
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