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We're so happy folks have been reaching out to us about applying our makerspace equipment & skills to medical relief efforts! We're also hearing from people wondering how they can help by making/crafting from home. A thread on local ways to get involved & what we've been doing:
If you're at UVA or in the local area, please contact [email protected] if you'd like our help designing/prototyping. We can also hook you into UVA's COVID-19 relief network, where folks from the hospital, engineering, elsewhere, & local community members work together.
Check out the guide to all UVA's makerspaces, shops, labs, and other making-oriented places on grounds: https://makergrounds.virginia.edu/ as well as these local initiatives:
Masks for Cville: community of physicians, engineers, nurses, other professionals organizing to create & distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to the community. They seek people & groups w/capacity to sew masks, produce face shields, or 3D print: https://masksforcville.com
Equip Cville seeks donations of medical & industrial grade PPE: https://www.supportcville.com/equipcville
Cville Craft Aid matches those in need with those who make: https://cvillebio.wixsite.com/cvillecraftaid
Cville Craft Aid matches those in need with those who make: https://cvillebio.wixsite.com/cvillecraftaid
Our Makerspace's Manager and Lead Research Technologist @mossiso, Senior Developer @Shane_et_al, and 3D Data & Content Specialist @rezn8r are all working with the UVA network of engineering, medical, and other folks on designing & making PPE and other COVID-19 supplies.
Thanks to them & @jeremykboggs @martofmiller @literature_geek, the Scholars' Lab equipment (e.g. 3D printing & sewing machines) was distributed to the homes of staff volunteers before we left grounds. Here are some of the efforts @ScholarsLab staff & students are working on:
. @mossiso is working remotely w/some of our students on PPE projects; Nora Dale & Coke Matthews just blogged about how to create masks: https://scholarslab.lib.virginia.edu/blog/masks-printed-and-sewed/
. @mossiso is working w/our hospital telemedicine department to 3D print web conference camera stands to allow doctors to check in on patients w/o entering rooms: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2588597
. @Shane_et_al is working w/a team on crafting facial shields; our Architecture School FabLab colleagues Melissa Goldman and Trevor Kemp used their water jet to cut a huge donation of plastic into protection for medical staff: https://twitter.com/presjimryan/status/1247915930069368835
. @rezn8r is researching 3D printing filaments for breathing, sterility, & other facets of medical safety; connecting his local EMT community & medical teachers at local community college & hospitals into UVA's initiative on printing ventilator-filters
Ventilator-filter designs are in design & prototyping phase; may need a better printing resolution to accommodate closure fixtures & airtight fittings, measurement accuracy for air hoses between ventilators & facemasks
. @rezn8r is also honing skills w/Rhino 3D & the SolidWorks engineering CAD design program to test building object arrays for printing more than one layer of objects per scanning session; looking into repurposing 3D scanners for potential reverse engineering medical equipment
. @rezn8r monitors Facebook 3D printing groups for more ideas & networks for COVID 3D solutions, including "Functional, Useful 3D Prints"; "3D Printing Useful Things"; and "Medical, Dentistry and Healthcare 3D Printing and CNC"
Others in UVA's COVID-19 relief network are 3D printing swab sticks & adding flocking; printing these ear protectors that relieve pressure from wearing a face mask for hours: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4249113 The NIH's list of approved 3D printable models is here: https://3dprint.nih.gov/collections/covid-19-response
