Dr.Shital Zambad’s entrepreneurial journey as MD Thincr Technologies, started after he worked as a Lecturer and then R&D Manager at Torrent Pharmaceuticals . He was passionate about 3D printing and developed Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printers to discover new pharmaceutical formulations and drug-loaded filaments of various drugs. As an entrepreneur, during the early days of pandemic, he discovered the need of high quality but affordable face masks in the new normal. He developed virucidal (that destroys the virus) coating with Sodium Olefin Sulfonate based mixture to uniformly coat the fabric layer by 3D printing. The coated layer can be incorporated as an additional layer in N-95 masks, 3-Ply masks, simple cloth masks, 3D printed or other plastic cover masks, along with reusable filters. These masks thus provide an additional protection beyond the protection achieved by filtration mechanisms. The coating has been tested and shown to inactivate the SARS-COV-2 virus. Merck India provided him their facilities for research at Nerul. The virucidal mask project has been selected for commercialization, by Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as part of the Government’s fight against COVID-19.
