This young entrepreneur from Gorakhpur is constructing sustainable COVID care centers within 80 days

Shriti Pandey, (M.S. '16, civil and urban engineering), assisted with the COVID-19 crisis in India through her sustainable company Strawcture Eco. The company built two COVID care centers in Patna and Jalandhar in under 80 days using renewable materials, completing the work in half the time of typical projects of this scale.

With a focus on being cost-effective and eco-friendly, Pandey was able to do 60% of the project in her workshop, with only the final assemblies needing to be done on-site. While the centers are approximately 6,000-square feet, they run completely on solar panels, and have silica roofing and walls to keep the interior cool. 

Pandey said she was especially happy that her team "Could provide employment opportunities to a lot of local workers around this time, and saved resources by using eco-friendly materials.”