How UPES provides succour in Covid times

It is not easy to be a student during a ravaging pandemic. Thankfully, there are institutions like University of Petroleum and Energy Studies [UPES] that are prioritising the well-being of students through measures such as counselling and healthcare support, scholarships, and breakthroughs to eradicate Covid-19

The pandemic has been especially stressful for students. Hence, it is essential to look after their well-being and facilitate their higher education journey. In this regard, UPES, one of the premier institutions of learning, has taken several initiatives, such as –

• UPESCares, a service that offers 24x7 counselling support to promote the emotional well-being of our students, alumni, and their families.
• With health being paramount, UPES has launched ‘Sanjeevani’, a 24*7 health care support for students and their families. It's a tie-up with ‘Practo’ and gives students access to doctors across 23 specialisations, special prices on lab tests and medicines, and a lot more.
• To honour the dedicated services of frontline workers, UPES announced scholarship schemes for wards of COVID warriors as well as wards of the individual who lost his/her life being the sole breadwinner of the family and left behind said ward.
• The scholarship is being launched for students into Undergraduate and Postgraduate during the academic year 2021-22, which shall be awarded for the one year of the program only.
• Preparing students for life: Enthusiastic, reflective, shy, outgoing – every student is different; and every student is a champion. UPES is striving to bring out the best version of each student through its holistic multidisciplinary education in an inclusive environment. Students are encouraged to think beyond the books, challenge the status quo, go above and beyond in their pursuit of excellence, and come out as leaders.
• UPES Mobile App: Created as an enabler for aspirants to give them regular updates about the admission process as well as access to mentors such as counsellors, faculty, and alumni. Students can avail a virtual tour of the campus, all the necessary information about their chosen domains, learn, interact, and explore life at UPES with a simple swipe.
• UPES made sure that learning never stops through a meticulously designed Immersive Academic Learning Framework for motivating students to become active participants of learning in the ‘new normal’. It was conceptualised and executed for last year’s batch called the ‘Resilient Class of 2020’. The framework was divided into three phases: Induction, Pre-Semester Learning, and Semester Commencement.
• Immersive workshops, interactive sessions and talks by eminent luminaries such as renowned economist Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Hon. Justice Swatentar Kumar, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Mr. Anupam Triwedi, Deputy Editor, TV-18 Broadcast Limited and several others were organised to encourage and inspire students in these challenging times.
• UPES began the ‘Shakti’ initiative to provide girl students enrolling in the university with scholarship on the tuition fees. Launched in 2020 under the presence of dignitaries such as Mrs. Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament, and Actor, Mrs. Tisca Chopra, the program aims to accelerate gender equality from the classrooms to the boardrooms.

UPES community made the following breakthroughs towards the eradication of the pandemic: 

• An innovative idea for sterilisation of public places using ozone micro nano bubbles (MNBS): Strong oxidation ability and an absence of harmful residues after treatment makes Ozone or O3 an ideal disinfecting agent. This technique has been found to be effective against bacterial contaminations.
• Automatic hand sanitizer dispensing machine with body temperature monitoring and mask detection system: The device works with the combined effort of a UV Sensor and a Servomotor. This can be installed at all kinds of public facilities.
• Material handling robots for Covid-19 infected patients in hospitals: Keeping in mind the risk of human-to-human infection due to Covid-19, the university has come up with an idea of developing robot, which can carry loads (such as medicine and food) to patients and can be controlled from distance.
• Design and development of low-cost mechanical ventilator: The designed ventilator can aid the respiration of a person suffering from ADARS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). It is anticipated to be effective in freeing up existing supply or in life-or-death situations when there is no other alternative.
• Isolated airway column with automatic hand sanitizer: This combined system of air filter and automatic sanitizer dispenser can be used in every public transport. The automatic sanitizer dispenser needs to be installed near the entry and exit points of the vehicle. The dispenser takes touch-free inputs from the user to dispense the sanitizer liquid and thus reduces the risk of virus spread through physical interactions.
• Automated detection, screening, and sanitization system for public transport: The proposed system is intended to be installed at the doorway of public-transport buses to facilitate easy screening and sanitization of individuals entering the bus.
• Design, development, and deployment of a robust and indigenous COVID-19 ventilator: The design of this ventilator can be easily manufactured, and it is robust enough to be integrated into the hospital environment to support Covid-19 patients.
• This developed prototype will function as a ‘Multi Patient Ventilator’, wherein several patients can be supported by a single ventilator.
• A comfortably vented ingeniously designed (Covid) fabric helmet for curbing infection spread in the community: The product has been designed in such a way that usage of this low-cost helmet along with the usually worn cloth is enough to provide complete protection to an individual. The fabric helmet is integrated with many innovative design features that will not only address the concerns of the users but will also be comfortable, cheap and ease pressure on the requirement for PPEs. This will reduce COVID-19 infection spread in the country.

The proposed design has been made available to the National Innovation Foundation with consent to distribute it to the public at various platforms.

About the author

Ekta Kashyap is a former journalist whose work history includes stints with media houses such as India Today, Bureaucracy Today and The Times of Africa. In her current position as Senior Executive - Content, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies [UPES], she writes extensively about education, life skills, and emerging industry trends.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha