All-girl Afghan robotic team tries to build cheap ventilators to help COVID-19 patients

KABUL, April 26 (Xinhua) — A team of six Afghan girls who won recognition at an international robotics contest has started to build low-cost ventilators as the coronavirus pandemic is on the rise in the country.

“The world is facing a health crisis. The world is suffering from a shortage of vital medical equipment for the fight against the pandemic, including respiratory ventilators,” Summaya Faruqi, 17, the team captain told Xinhua recently.

In the summer of 2017, the all-girl robotic building team known as the “Afghan Dreamers” won a silver medal during the FIRST Global Challenge event, a robotic contest that encourages young people to pursue careers in science, held in the United States.

“We conferred with medical doctors and experts on the design and production of the ventilators, and their suggestion was that the devices should not be manual, but operated by power,” Faruqi said.



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