THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The students of Mohandas College of Engineering and Technology along with their professor Neethu U have made 100 emergency portable power banks using batteries. These have been handed over to Mayor VK Prasanth to be sent to the flood-affected areas of Wayanad, Nilambur and Kozhikode.
Last year, when the flood hit the state, the students had planned to make power banks but were not able to do so because of time constraints. This time, they made the power banks in just one day. “One of the main problems that most of the flood-affected people face is the absence of power supply and the difficulty to charge their phones so that they can communicate with their relatives. So, we thought of making this single-use power banks,” said Neethu, an assistant professor, department of electrical engineering.
According to Neethu, the power banks were made by the electrical engineering students who did not get any prior training. “I taught them how to make power banks using batteries. We bought the batteries worth D3,000, which was contributed by the students themselves. The power banks were made with a USB cable. People can plug into it and use it and after that, it should be discarded,” she said. The power banks are equipped to charge any smartphone battery for up to an hour.