Havering College teams up with former engineering student to produce door pullers for NHS workers
A former student has collaborated with the @HaveringCollege head of Engineering to create a special door puller for #NHS staff to use in hospitals in a bid to reduce the spread of #Coronavirus.
Elliot Dervish, an ex-Engineering apprentice, originally came up with the idea to protect his mum Janine, who works at Basildon Hospital.
He designed the gadget and printed some on his 3D printer for his mum to take in for her colleagues. They proved so popular, he was inundated with orders!
Sunny Bamra, Havering Colleges’ Deputy Curriculum Director for Automotive and Engineering, has been busy helping to print and produce the door pullers on a 3D printer at home.
Elliot is now producing the pullers for thousands of NHS workers across Essex and has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for the production costs.
He said: “As a design engineer currently working from home, my thoughts were with my mother working at the hospital every day in these troubled times.
“So I decided to design and manufacture a little tool that would enable her to press lift buttons and pull open doors without having to risk contamination. I made a handful of the handy little tools as a thank you and to keep my mother and her NHS colleagues safe.
“They could not get enough of them! As soon as I was able to make them, they were gone.”
Elliot, who runs his own 3D design and printing company called ED3D Design Ltd, paid for the first batch himself but needed to set up the GoFundMe page to manufacture more. The page has generated more than £5,700.
He enlisted the help of friends and colleagues to help him print the door pullers, and Sunny was happy to get involved.
Sunny said: “As a community-based College we are keen to support the NHS and other key workers in such times of need. We all have a part to play in protecting our elderly, our vulnerable and looked-after adults and children. I was more than happy to help Elliot with this fantastic project.”
Elliot now hopes to sell the pullers into other industries and match sales he makes with further free donations to the NHS, and expand the scope outside Essex.
To donate, see gofundme.com/f/nhs-staff-no-contact-door-puller-material
Any businesses interested in the puller can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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