| | DECEMBER 202019due to lack of guidance, until one of his professors suggested him to pursue doctoral research at IIT-Kanpur. Dr. Sandip, who had a passion for machines and technology since childhood, was elated to work with nanofibre technology in the university's leading-edge IIT labs. Unfortunately, he hit a roadblock when his project required a Super Electro-spinning machine, since the machine was only available with foreign suppliers who quoted exorbitant rates. Having built a habit of turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones, Dr. Sandip built a perfect Electro-spinning machine himself that demonstrated immense efficiency and precision.Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug since his college days, he decided to commercialize his invention. Impressed by his innovative spirit and unswerving focus, SIDBI Incubation and Innovation Centre at IIT Kanpur invested in E-Spin Nanotech. "Back then, there was no Startup India movement and the funds from government and private sector were limited, especially for a hardware technology like ours. I poured in every penny I had including my student scholarship fund and then borrowed some from my friends and my PhD mentor Dr. Ashutosh Sharma," recalls Dr. Sandip. Thus, he incepted India's first Electro-spinning ma-chine manufacturing company in 2010, all the while pursuing his PhD. Determined to be self-reliant and self-sufficient from the very beginning, Dr. Sandip hired young and highly-motivated people and up-skilled them, rather than borrowing funds from banks to recruit lateral hires. The hurdles brought on by the financial crunch only strengthened his resolve and trusted him to work every day and night and on holi-days to enrich the portfolio with newer additions.With Dr. Sandip's reputation preceding him, E-Spin Nanotech's fame spread like a wild fire and he was supplying orders even before the company was formally registered. This helped him to break even and recover the invested funds within six months. Since then, E-Spin Nanotech has only experienced the winds of fortune. He scaled up the nanofibre spinning technology for the industrial scale from the lab scale and morphed it into a commodity with ample use cases. In his quest to arm the Indian population with technologies that help them fight against air pollution, Dr. Sandip integrated nanofibre with air filtration technology and invented the Swasa Masks in 2018, which also provides better protection against virus and bacteria. "It is extraordinary that even common people are capable of understanding the product's connection with the technology today. We were able to propagate Swasa within a large section of community within just a minuscule of time," remarks Dr. Sandip.Moving up the Evolution CycleToday's customers are exacting in their demands and has unlimited expectations. That doesn't stop E-Spin Nanotech from constantly raising the bar higher for itself and innovate technologies better than its previous creation. A strong proponent of non-bureaucratic work culture, he still organizes brainstorming sessions periodically and motivates his team to keep up with the newest technologies in the market. The company soon aims to launch a washable nanofibre membrane which can be used in the reusable antipollution mask and air cabin filters, which will also address the challenge of land filling. Plans are afoot to add AC filters, anti-pollution windows net for schools, automobile air filter, gas filter and pharmaceutical filters to E-Spin Nanotech's product line as well.Dr. Sandip intends to parlay Swasa mask's success into a full-fledged healthcare brand called Swasa Lifeguard (or Swasa Protective Gears), which would offer all sorts of protection for daily usage. He is confident that foraying into industries like healthcare and automobile, which encompass a wide spectrum of products, would help him to grow E-Spin Nanotech into a publicly listed company that can create ample employment opportunities. "I wish to run the company like Reliance and do business like TATA. Meaning: E-Spin Nanotech's products should be within the reach of every community but the business should have a social impact and strong reputation. Everyone believes in TATA but most people purchase from Reliance. We aim to be the perfect blend of both of these qualities," concludes Dr. Sandip. WHAT MAKES E-SPIN A FAVOURITE CHOICE OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IS THAT IT IS RUN BY TECHNOCRATS, WHO PIONEERED THE NANOFIBRE TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
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