Rutgers University’s Resilient, Innovative Year Confronting COVID-19

The last year, which has been unlike any other in Rutgers’ 254-year history, has centered on keeping the Rutgers community safe, providing top-notch health care, developing the first saliva test for the coronavirus and helping society cope with the biggest global public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Simply Speaking While Infected Can Potentially Spread COVID-19

COVID-19 can spread from asymptomatic but infected people through small aerosol droplets in their exhaled breath. Most studies of the flow of exhaled air have focused on coughing or sneezing; however, speaking while near one another is also risky. In Physics of Fluids, scientists used smoke and laser light to study the flow of expelled breath near and around two people conversing in various relative postures commonly found in the service industry, such as in hair salons, medical exam rooms, or long-term care facilities.

Face Shields No Match for Sneeze Vortex Rings

Do face shields provide enough protection to the wearers against COVID-19 if they don’t also wear a mask? No. But researchers in Japan are working to create face shields safe enough to be worn alone. In Physics of Fluids, Fujio Akagi and colleagues describe their work to gain a better understanding of what happens to the airflow around a face shield when someone nearby sneezes.

FDA Guidance Fails to Ensure Security of 3D-Printed Masks and PPE

New Brunswick, N.J. (Sept. 16, 2020) – FDA guidelines for making 3D-printed masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment (PPE) in the COVID-19 era fail to defend against cyberattacks, according to Rutgers and Georgia Tech engineers. Due to the…

Face Shield or Face Mask to Stop the Spread of COVID-19?

If CDC guidelines aren’t enough to convince you that face shields alone shouldn’t be used to stop the spread of COVID-19, then maybe a new visualization study will. Researchers simulated coughing and sneezing from a mannequin’s mouth using a laser light to visualize droplets expelled. They tested a plastic face shield and found that they block the initial forward motion of the exhaled jet, however, aerosolized droplets are able to move around the visor with relative ease.

Children Ages 5 to 18 Create Hundreds of 3D Printed PPEs and Donate Them to Local Hospitals

Over the last month, FAU elementary and high schools students ages 5 to 18, along with two faculty members, have worked tirelessly to create 3D printed face shields, intubation chambers and ear savers for several local hospitals in Palm Beach County. So far, they have produced more than 650 face shields, more than 500 ear savers and 36 intubation chambers and expect to collect another 350 face shields by the end of the week.

Rutgers Supplies Hospitals with PPE to Battle COVID-19

During the coronavirus pandemic, health care professionals worldwide are facing shortages of personal protection equipment (PPE). But faculty, students and staff from across Rutgers are coming together to produce face shields and intubation boxes themselves with off-the-shelf materials to help relieve the PPE shortage at area hospitals.

Engineers design UV sterilization stations to aid healthcare workers during coronavirus pandemic

Engineers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have designed sterilization stations that use ultraviolet light to kill the coronavirus on any contaminated personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks and face shields.

UNLV Engineers Fabricate PPE for Local Medical Community

Health care providers across the Las Vegas Valley were facing an unprecedented challenge, worsened by a lack of supplies to protect themselves. A local medical community group reached out: Could the UNLV College of Engineering help fill the gap for personal protection equipment, such as face shields? The college put together a task force.

Ad Astra Coalition created to help in the fight against COVID-19

A coalition of businesses and government partners, the Ad Astra Coalition has joined together to answer some of the challenges being created in Wichita and Kansas by the COVID-19 pandemic. The coalition is co-led by Airbus Americas Engineering, Spirit AeroSystems, Textron Aviation, Wichita State University and WSU Tech.

Engineers make progress in developing face shields, N95 masks to combat coronavirus

Engineers at Binghamton University, State University are testing prototypes of ventilator adapters, masks, face shields and a UV sterilizing technique to help local healthcare partners during the coronavirus pandemic.