SYN Media

A Monash University engineering student has used 3D printing to develop a cheap and safe plastic tool that can open doors and push buttons – eliminating the need for hand contact on potentially contaminated surfaces in the era of COVID-19.

Muthu Vellayappan, has invented a simple tool that can help people eliminate their direct contact with door handles, lift buttons, ATM digits, toilet flushers and hand dryers, and other areas where contamination might be present.

After watching videos online of people sneezing and spitting into their hands and deliberately touching door handles and lift buttons, Muthu jumped into the lab to design and test the tool he calls a ‘Safety Key’ in early March to help slow the transmission of viruses in the community.

Muthu told The Happydemic’s Brendan Bachman that the key is being used in universities and hospitals across Australia, Canada and the United States and that a Boeing manufacturing plant in India is also looking at using his invention.

Listen to the full podcast here.
The Happydemic is a podcast from SYN focusing on sharing the good things that young people are doing during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; @TheHappydemic