TO FURTHER help in the fight against Covid19, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines developed an Ultraviolet Disinfection Conveyor Machine that can disinfect documents and other materials used on a daily basis.

The project was initiated by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Planning and Development in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Management Office.

“We plan to distribute the machines to crowded areas (in the university), like the accounting office, registrar’s office, and those areas that are receiving a lot of documents,” Engineer Ginno Andres, project head and IPMO director, said.

“Kasi madami pa ring opisina na gumagamit ng maraming papel at hindi pa naman tayo paperless. The main beneficiary of the project is the PUP community,” he added.

The idea for disinfectant machines came from a thesis paper written by mechanical engineering students who maximized the use of ultraviolet rays as disinfectants.

The IPMO, with the assistance of its engineers and technical experts, built on this concept and designed machines to benefit the university.

Andres said that the machines are user-friendly and come with a manual to guide users through the settings.

“Our mechanical engineering students kumbaga na-boost ang kanilang morale with these innovations. Sila talaga ang nagfabricate nito; but my team, my engineers, and technical experts Engr. Mark Manlapaz, and Engr. Helarch Anthony, were the ones who designed the machines,” Andres added.

The PUP has developed seven machines and will distribute them to other PUP offices. Andres said they are seeking funds to develop more units.