While engineering face shields for frontliners at their Andheri workshop, members of Maker-s Asylum, a community of innovators, accidentally ended up with a mini version. "It looked cute, but we didn-t know what to do with it," says co-founder Vaibhav Chhabra. It was early April and the world was still experimenting with durable and comfortable protective gear. Unlike masks that protect the nose and mouth, face shields are known to keep the virus from entering through the eyes.

A few days later, almost serendipitously, Chhabra stumbled upon a news story about how Bangkok had started manufacturing baby shields. One of the foundations that the lab had collaborated with, contacted a city hospital to find out if they were willing to commission a batch. The first 100 shields, lined with soft foam, were prepared from scratch and labelled the M-19 baby shields—M as a tribute to the maker community. "It was a great success," says Chhabra. The team now makes 200 baby shields daily, which are sent to city hospitals and individual clients.