What is Maker’s Asylum?
Maker’s Asylum is a community where individuals come together to innovate new products. They create imaginative items utilising technologies like 3D printers, laser cutters, cowhide work stations, dynamic printers and more. One of the biggest products they have created in India is face shields.
On 29th March ’20, a few days into the lockdown, the organisation launched the M-19 initiative to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic better. They aimed to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) to help the healthcare sector in India.
Who is Vaibhav Chhabra?
Vaibhav Chhabra is the founder and CLO of Maker’s Asylum. The M-19 Initiative is his brainchild. Along with his team, they have innovated more such initiatives since 2013.
First to create COVID-19 face shields in India
The M-19 Initiative began with an idea of giving just 1000 M-19 face shields to the forefront labourers. The collective began on 29th March ’20, when the employees along with a couple of volunteers decided to quarantine themselves at Maker’s Asylum in Mumbai. Together the team spent day and night in creating this custom solution for the healthcare sector.
The Journey
In the first 15 days, the makers had already created and shipped the first 100 thousand face shields. In the next 7 days, they were ready with another 100 thousand. As it turns out, within 49 days they had created a million face shields. Nonetheless, the organisation looped and activated 42 urban communities, towns and villages pan-India through their open-source plan.
Maker’s asylum documented their whole progress and put it on social media for the world to have access to their products and designs. They have been trending on social media by #theM19Collective and #MakersGonnaMake.
The M19 shields were made, not with the aim or motive of profit-making but only to help India. The organisation wanted to help the healthcare sector in whatever capacity they could. Hence, did not patent their designs.
The organisation open-sourced a step-by-step video guide on how to make these shields in order to jump over the logistical hurdles.
Through this initiative, there has been a significant improvement in the availability of face shields as Maker’s Asylum has been able to reach out to people all across the country in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and many more.
The initiative is still active as they continue to donate face shields across the country to fight against COVID19. Self-sufficient and sustainable local ecosystems will be the new norm of a post #COVID19 world. For the true spirit of making in India #makersgonnamake.
Did you like this vlog? Listen to Divya dialogue with Taruna Seth, a founder and Navigator – in – chief, about how travel and tourism sector, reinvent itself post Covid19 here.
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