Engineering through lockdown

These last few months of quarantine and lockdown have proven stressful for us all. Personally, I devoted a lot of time towards learning something new and becoming a better version on myself as I’m sure most of us did. Although, a few of us went out of their way to make this crisis a bit more tolerable. I would like to bring to light the unknown warriors, Engineers and how they fought a pandemic in their own way.

Here are a few examples:

A team of 3 software engineers created “COVID Maps”. This is a community-based app that allows people in a certain locality to mark stores and constantly update about stocks in the stores, or the open hours of the stores to allow people to get the supplies they need during the easement hours of the day.

Aarogya Setu mobile application is a powerful tool built by the Government of India (Software Engineers) to facilitate quick identification of persons infected by COVID-19, or at risk of being infected, thus acting as a shield for individuals and the community.

A team of specialised engineers from IIT-B created a mobile testing centre to aid medical professionals in faster and more direct testing of patients with a fast COVID-19 detection test and sterilized treatment centre. This was created in a modified bus to aid in faster movement.

All ISPs and telecom operators these days are working extra hard to provide Internet access to their customers. Many of them have also brought various upgrades to their existing systems to keep the Internet up and running for the masses in the country.

These are just a few examples of how technology used wisely can be beneficial to human society; and however small our contribution, we must contribute for a better world. I hope to inspire new ideas and innovations which would be helpful to society and the environment. Lastly, I would like to say thanks to all the brave workers struggling to fight against this virus and to those who come up with creative solutions to aid them.

Sighting a better future

Yash Sunkle