Mr. Surachai Dingsawad, an educational affairs committee of the Princess Maha Chakri Award (PMCA) reported activities of The 2019 PMCA awardee from Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Surachai reported that Mr. Le Thanh Liem, who is a physics teacher and the 2019 PMCA awardee from Vietnam takes an active role in his community to fight COVID-19 by building an automatic UV sanitizing box to disinfect bank notes and face masks.
Mr. Liem dedicated his time to design his invention by using locally available materials in an attempt to stop spreading of the virus on bank notes that can be contaminated from daily exchange. The box can also be used for face masks, including cloth face masks.
Mr. Liem’s invention is an automatic system using laser sensors to prevent contacts of UV on human skin. The device automatically operates by just a touch on the sensor to open the box. Then, place items inside to be disinfected for 10 -20 second. When the disinfecting process finishes, the box will automatically open. Disinfected bank notes or other items can be used safely.
Mr. Liem led a team of his tribal minority students in his community to assemble the UV sanitizing box to raise awareness about danger of COVID-19 pandemic in his community. Moreover, his team challenges are to find locally available materials within low budget of 500,000 Vietnamese Dongs or equivalent of 780 Thai Bahts.
Translator: Dr.Supara Bacauos