Engineering student’s design a key to stopping COVID-19 spread

A 3D-printed plastic tool developed by an engineering student could slow the transmission of viruses in the community.

After noticing his colleagues using their elbows to push lift buttons, Monash University PhD student Muthu Vellayappan was inspired to put his engineering skills into action. He designed the ‘Safety Key’, a simple plastic tool that eliminates the need for direct contact with potentially contaminated surfaces.

“I started the design around mid-March when the number of coronavirus cases was going up,” Vellayappan told create. 

“It took me four weeks to complete the design, including seven or eight iterations from the first design to the current one.”

The multifunctional key works on L-shaped and U-shaped doorhandles, as well as traffic stop, tram and bus buttons. After developing his design, Vellayappan circulated prototypes of the key to Monash staff, to obtain their feedback.

“Once they got used to it, people were finding their own ways of using the tool,” he said. 

“For example, one person said they were using it to open barbecue covers and press common microwave buttons … [and] when I had a television interview recently, the host was holding the microphone with the key. People will come up with all sorts of suggestions and solutions.”

Vellayappan, whose PhD focuses on 3D-printing of cardiac patches, plans to continue modifying the ‘Safety Key’ design, such that it can also be used on supermarket trolleys.

“I haven’t got to the final product yet – there’s always room for improvement,” he said. 

“I’m trying to make it as versatile as possible.”

The Safety Key is smaller than a mobile phone and can be cleaned easily with soap and warm water. The cost of the materials is less than $1 per key and manufacturing via injection moulding could be used to mass produce it. 

Providing the file for free to anyone with access to a 3D printer, Vellayappan has so far received more than 40 requests from around the world. 

“Someone in the UK wants to print it to supply to NHS [National Health Service] workers,” he said. 

“I also had a call from a teacher in New South Wales who’s planning to get her students to 3D-print their own Safety Keys, as gifts to their mothers on Mother’s Day … We all know that this is a very difficult time, and I’m really glad that the Safety Key can reach out to people and help keep them safe.”