Positive Story of the Day: Aligarh Muslim University students make a cheap Oxygen Concentrator

'Made in India' oxygen concentrator developed by 5 AMU students

In the aftermath of the first War of Indian Independence in 1857, Britishers had taken out their anger selectively against Muslims. The devastation in the aftermath for the Muslim community, which was the flagbearer of the Independence struggle, was so severe that historians claim that there was no tree left on the road which connected Calcutta to Kabul which did not have dead bodies dangling from this minority community.

Observing this near annihilation of his co-religionists and the blatant favouritism by Britishers’ towards Hindus, in both jobs and by bestowing them land tracts, (this is when the much talked about ‘divide and rule’ policy started in India), Sir Syed Ahmed Khan begged and campaigned far and wide to create an institution which would in his wisdom provide modern education to this oppressed community. This minority institution today has grown to become Aligarh Muslim University which imparts education to atleast 25 thousand students yearly and helps immensely in nation building.

Recently, five engineering students of this very institution have developed an oxygen concentrator, after they saw the acute shortage of this life saving device in India. If that was not all, this Oxygen Concentrator is much more robust and more affordable in comparison to those branded ones available in the market.

All the five who developed this apparatus are B Tech students of Zakir Hussain Engineering College, which is a part of Aligarh Muslim University. Mohammed Faizan Ali Khan, Mohammed Hamza, Syed Abu Rehan, Mohammad Munjir and Daniel Khalik, who with the help of their teachers, created this life saving device say that the device runs on electricity and produces 95 per cent pure oxygen that can be inhaled by a patient directly if their oxygen levels goes below normal.

The device recently developed is already in use in Deendayal Hospital on a trial basis where it has been deployed in the Covid-19 patients’ ward and is turning out to be a boon for those who are admitted with complaints of low Oxygen saturation.

Explaining its working, they say, the atmosphere contains 20 percent oxygen and around 77 percent nitrogen apart from other gases in trace qualities. They have used Zeolite, a mineral that contains mainly aluminium and silicon compounds, used as drying agents in detergents, and in water and air purifiers, to block nitrogen in this device.

When enquired on what was the motivation behind their effort, they said that recent reports on the shortage of oxygen across India as a consequence of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic shook them and they wanted to create a lasting solution to the situation.

Apart from friends and alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University they have received congratulatory messages from across the world. Many have requested them to build more such devices. They say that mass manufacturing of the device is possible – but they have faced issues with regular supplies of Zeolite – which is difficult to procure from open markets.

“We have brought the issue to the attention of the district administration and University authorities and are sure the availability issues will soon be addressed.”

Pricing has not yet been worked out but they say that the Oxygen concentrators that these five students of Aligarh Muslim University have developed will be much lower than the cheapest option available today in the market.