Naman TEKRIWAL is one of the nine UG students at the HKUST Business School who has been selected to receive the Dean’s Services Award 2020. This annual award recognizes students with outstanding service contributions over the past year.
Naman is an Indian-born Year-1 student majoring in management. He realizes, in the fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus, medical supplies and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can hardly meet the huge demand in one of the most densely populated cities in India – Delhi or Naman’s home city, especially among sanitation workers and frontline police officers. He along with two of his high school friends started an initiative to print and distribute “3D face shields” for free to medical staff, sanitation workers and police offers in the city.
“We believe they risking their lives for others are true warriors of the pandemic crisis, and thus want to contribute in protecting these people who protect others”, according to Naman.
The team has opened up different channels including a website and on social media to call for support and donations. The fund raised from their initiative has been used for printing of up to 1,100 3D face shields so far.
They show real care for these frontline workers as they designed their face shields according to the standards set by the World Health Organization. These shields were made using transparent OHP sheets which were attached on a head mount to minimize direct exposure to droplets, keeping users protected from the risk of transmission.
Their meaningful endeavors received support from local government bodies including the Police Department of Delhi and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Mass donations were made to local hospitals where PPEs are short in supply. Their story was featured in local and national press in India.
“HKUST has instilled in me the spirit to give back to the community and the ability to take bold steps to become a change-maker for the betterment of our society,” said Naman. “Being blessed with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and having participated in several entrepreneurship competitions, I saw the pandemic, as a silver lining, provide an opportunity to put our ideas into action and help others.”
