Vice-Chancellor of ATBU, Professor Muhammad Ahmad Abdulazeez, who disclosed this to newsmen yesterday at the ATBU Mechatronics Engineering Laboratory in Bauchi, said that as a hub for innovation, the institution felt the need to support the federal government through an innovative approach to control the scourge of the COVID-19, saying engineers at the University have invented prototype ventilator which is cost-effective for the treatment of coronavirus.
He explained that the team also fabricated an aerosol box for the protection of medical doctors and medical personnel. He added that part of the machines invented by the team includes a disinfection spraying machine to spray anyone going in and coming out of a hospital, banks or any room to control infection either through touching an object or infected person.
“We are not in this to make a profit but to contribute to the fight against infectious diseases particularly COVID-19 and Lassa fever. I am confident that these machines can stand the test of time by doing the needful,” he said.
The don who conducted newsmen round the laboratory explained that the invented machines were in line with the objectives of the institution as a center of research and invention to scale-up technological advancement and support government address the high cost of procuring modern machines to fight the dreaded virus.
Speaking with newsmen, team leader of the scientists, Faisal Sani Bala, said that the automatic ventilator was invented with local materials available in Bauchi saying, “We cannibalize on all office materials to construct. We are going to work in tandem with medical school and other medical personnel within the school to do pre-clinical and clinical trial because this is a medical device that needs some level of certification.” “Although fighting COVID-19 is synonymous to fighting the Second World War, we have to move things fast and we need to work faster,” he said.
He said one of the advantages of an automatic ventilator is that it has a backup battery as well as a provision for solar panel to power the machine based on the peculiarity of power supply in the country.
