Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, news of oxygen shortages deeply concerned Md. Mahmudunnabi Biplob, an engineer from Bogura. Leveraging his technical expertise, he set out to find a solution. In just a month, working through lockdown nights, he developed a portable oxygen concentrator using local materials and technology.
This oxygen concentrator can generate up to 300 liters of oxygen per hour from room air and is easy to operate. Within just five minutes, the device can provide pure oxygen through a regulator. Weighing less than 30 kg, it’s suitable for hospital use, and its cost is just BDT 70,000. Currently undergoing quality tests by the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), once approved, it could replace costly imported alternatives.
Mahmudunnabi’s concentrator, named “KR Oxygen Concentrator,” uses only three takas of electricity per hour for producing 600 liters of oxygen. Even when a patient’s oxygen saturation drops below 80%, the device can perform effectively. This innovation holds immense potential in reducing the country’s reliance on imported oxygen concentrators.
Mahmudunnabi has a long history of inventive thinking. From his early school days, he was fascinated by science and engineering. After earning a diploma in refrigeration and air conditioning from Bogura Polytechnic Institute in 1994, he began a career as an engineer and teacher. In 1996, he founded Kankan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Workshop, named after his nephew. Over the years, his workshop has become a hub for technological innovation in northern Bangladesh, developing a range of life-saving and cost-effective devices.
Among his notable inventions are a flood warning system powered by solar energy, which won him the Best Innovator award at the 2018 Bogura Digital Innovation Fair, and an energy-efficient DC ventilation system, which is now used in mobile phone towers across the country.
As the country’s demand for homegrown engineering solutions grows, Mahmudunnabi continues to mentor young engineers, with over 200 enterprises having emerged from his workshop in the past two decades. His efforts are not just about innovation; they’re about empowering a new generation of engineers and reducing dependence on foreign expertise.