Romanian Viorel Ionuț Bohotici, aged 19, studying Electronic Engineering at the Polytechnic University in Turin, Italy, has invented a smart facemask, which changes its colour if it stops filtering the air. He will present his invention at Dubai Expo on February 18.
Viorel came up with the idea after reading that 72% of a sample of mask users used them for so long that they became ineffective and could no longer act as a barrier against the coronavirus. “As masks are compulsory everywhere, this sensor becomes essential. If the filter device is no longer effective, the mask turns orange“, Viorel explained his invention, according to Rai News.
Viorel said that his device is based on the presence of certain enzymes that cause the reaction and color change and that the production price is low. His device can also be used in the food and even the medical sector.
The 19-year-old, who lives in Ancona with his parents, has already patented the microchip designed a year ago and presented it as a paper for the final exams at the Galilee High School in Jesi. Viorel remembered what his professor of organic chemistry and biochemistry told him at the final exam: “This is not a high school thesis, but a bachelor’s thesis.”
Viorel is not at his first experience in research. During high school he patented a device for sanitizing banknotes.
According to Ancona Today, Viorel, who has lived in Italy since he was 2 years old, has already received offers from manufacturers for his mask.