Below are ways the College is using their resources and expertise to support people and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mechanical engineering team 3-D prints mask extenders and face shields
In a UA mechanical engineering lab, Dr. Mani Kannan and Aaron Trexler are 3-D printing mask extenders. “I want to help the nurses and doctors from having pain in their ears from wearing face masks for over ten hours each day,” says Dr. Kannan. The first batch of extenders – 250 total - were given to Dr. Kartik Gopal, senior operational analyst at Summa Health. Dr. Kannan and his team are also working on producing face shields in the 3-D printing lab to be used by first responders.
Summa Health’s Dr. Kartik Gopal, UA Senior Mechanical Engineering Technician Aaron Trexler, and Assistant Professor of Engineering Practice Dr. Manigandan Kannan, in the the College of Engineering's 3-D printing lab.
The colorful mask extenders were manufactured by UA's Mechanical Engineering Department.
UA engineering equipment loaned out for testing N95 respirators and face mask filters
In 2016 Dr. George Chase, interim director of research initiatives at UA and professor of chemical engineering, published an article that featured a unique piece of research equipment. The TSI8130 filter tester, which is about the size of a washing machine, is used to measure how well filters (like those used in masks) stop particles in the air. The instrument is an essential part of Dr. Chase’s research lab to study how well micron and submicron size polymer fibers perform as filters.
With the present urgency to mass produce N95 respirators and face masks, instruments like the TSI8130 are in high demand and short supply. Through the magic of the internet, the article caught the eye of a NASA researcher who serves on a national task force addressing the manufacturing and decontamination of N95 masks. Within 72 hours of NASA's request, the device was loaded into a van and driven to Goshen, Indiana, on-loan to engineers at GDC, Inc., where it will be used to test production line filters used in N95 masks.
Chemical engineering grad student Harshal Gade and Dr. George Chase, at the ASEC loading dock with the TSI8130.
Engineering departments donate 114 boxes of gloves
The Biomedical Engineering Department responded to a request for donations from Summa Health in Akron and donated 44 boxes of gloves (4,400 gloves total).
The Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering Department also rounded up all available, unused boxes of gloves – 70 boxes (7,000 total) as well as 30 N95 masks. The gloves will be redistributed to other campus departments or go to a central location in Summit County where they are then handed out to law enforcement, EMS, fire departments, hospitals, etc.
Diana Philip, biomedical engineering graduate student, coordinated the donation.
Dr. Mike Cheung, chair of the Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering Department, collected the gloves.
More resources:
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- See the University's COVID-19 response