Composite mobile van for speech and hearing evaluation

NAL formally handed over an all-composite mobile van for speech and hearing evaluation to the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysore a little before 11.00 a.m. on 25 January 2001. Shortly after lunch the same afternoon the gleaming blue and smoked grey van was driven away to Mysore.

The van will function as a kind of "travelling laboratory and clinic" to rehabilitate patients, especially in rural areas, who suffer from hearing disabilities. The primary reason for choosing a composite body was because it offered acoustic insulation. A series of experiments, with different thicknesses and densities, at the FRP Pilot Plant indicated that sound levels could be brought down from about 90 dB to below 20 dB.

Dr M Jayaram, Director, AIISH, who had specially come to Bangalore to receive the FRP van from Dr T S Prahlad, Director, NAL, appeared elated. "Environmental sound is a crucial parameter in testing and in interpreting test results". He said that in the past the best that AIISH could do was to use relatively silent classrooms or panchayat halls in rural areas. "But we were acutely conscious of the fact that our tests were not really valid beyond a point. So if he suspected a disability, we asked patients to visit us at Mysore. That was both inconvenient and expensive for our patients".

Dr Prahlad, in his opening remarks, expressed his happiness that the van was finally ready. "There have been some delays, but I am happy to note that the project has ended successfully. We will be closely watching the van's performance", he said.

Dr R M V G K Rao, Head, FRP Pilot Plant, gave a brief technical overview of this "welfare-oriented project". "When we were first asked to fabricate this van, we were perhaps a trifle complacent. We believed that after fabricating the all-composite HANSA aircraft, a mere van wouldn't trouble us. But it was hard work!", Dr Rao admitted. He also specially thanked his colleague Mr C Pragalathan and Mr M T Srivatsa for their wonderful support and effort.

Srinivas Bhogle

Source: Information Pasteboard

 
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