By Aafaque Hussain
SHILLONG: Shillong is a place where winter lasts longer than usual and people often bear the brunt of chilling weather without much respite even when temperature soars high during summer season.
However, Anup Gurung, a young lecturer from University of Technology and Management, Shillong has developed a jacket which can be used in any climatic condition — hot or cold.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, Anup Gurung said that he has named his product HX-1 ( Heat eXchange Jacket) which has been designed keeping in mind the extreme weather conditions in which Indian Army has to fight enemies in difficult areas such as Siachen and others.
According to Gurung, the jacket uses a simple principle of heat thermodynamics on a material that is easily available.
Asked about the proposed price of the jacket, he said that it will range around Rs 25000 and he is quite confident that his jacket would be of great benefit to the Indian Army.
It may be mentioned that Anup has made a presentation before a DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organization) in Vishakhapatnam. Reacting to a query, he said that he has been working on the jacket for nearly three years, making it an all-weather cost effective product When asked about the effectiveness and durability of the jacket, he said that the jacket can maintain the body temperature at any desired value ranging from – 10o C to 55oC or more. Anup claims that a person suffering from hypothermia or hyperthermia can be effectively taken care with HX-1. “Now I want to do the patent of the jacket,” he said, adding that his product won the second prize in Bee Fest 2012 held at Tashi Namgyal Academy in Sikkim from among participants of 183 institutions.
