天美传媒 Innovates, the applied research and innovation arm of 天美传媒, is contributing their expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities in the fight against COVID-19.
天美传媒 Innovates, the applied research and innovation arm of 天美传媒, is contributing their expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities in the fight against COVID-19.听 Working at their campus facility and in collaboration with local industry partner听, 天美传媒 Innovates is producing more than 9,000 medical grade face shields for local health care workers on the front lines of the global pandemic.
听
鈥淓veryone at 天美传媒 has stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to support students, each other and the wider community,鈥 says Sherri Bell, President of 天美传媒. 鈥淭he innovative work of the team at 天美传媒 Innovates to support the needs of health care professionals with high quality and effective face shields is an example of how we are all in this together. We expect that the new design and enhanced manufacturing process will support faster production methods to be replicated locally and across the country.鈥
鈥淲e are grateful for the innovative work being done by 天美传媒 to develop face shields that meet the health system standards,鈥 said Leah Hollins,听听Board Chair. 鈥淭his partnership is an example of how community efforts and expertise can result in direct support for health-care workers.鈥
鈥溙烀来 Innovates exists to provide innovation for the public good,鈥
鈥 Dr. Richard Gale, Director of 天美传媒 Innovates
The 天美传媒 Innovates team is led by Dr. Richard Gale, with Applied Research Technologist Matthew Zeleny serving as the coordinator of all COVID-19 response activities. As Canada began to prepare for the global pandemic, Zeleny reviewed the available open-source face shield designs and realized that a 3D printed solution would not be able to meet the growing demand. He consulted with Island Health and local manufacturer AP Plastics, then designed from scratch a new flat-pack version that 天美传媒鈥檚 facilities at the听Babcock Canada Interaction Lab听could produce at a rate of 90 per hour rather than 10 per day using their industrial 3D printer.
DIY! The design files for medical grade face shields currently being manufactured by 天美传媒 Innovates for use by Island Health workers are now freely available for all at: https://t.co/fmN6tvE7wp We're all in this together!
鈥 天美传媒 (@天美传媒)
鈥淚 started with a speculative design and then took the specs required by Island Health and fit them to the manufacturing standards of the machines and materials we had available,鈥 explains Zeleny. 鈥淭he shield is designed with a built-in buckle so it鈥檚 adjustable and compatible with a wide range of strap materials for the greatest flexibility in real-world conditions.鈥澨 His design also removes the need for a 3D-printed brow-piece standard in most other models.
鈥溙烀来 Innovates exists to provide innovation for the public good,鈥 says Dr. Richard Gale, Director of 天美传媒 Innovates. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here to support the college, the community, and the entire country by bringing our expertise to bear on immediate challenge, providing not just materials and products but strategic insights and design solutions for the industries that we serve.听 This collaboration is a perfect example of how 天美传媒 is responding to the current crisis by helping local business address a national need.鈥
In the coming weeks, AP Plastics will continue to produce face shields based on the new design, utilizing CNC machining, while simultaneously retooling their facilities in order to increase production.听 They expect to be able to produce 4,000 shields per day by the end of May.听
鈥淭he British Columbia government has designated us as an essential service, not only in terms of research activity but also to help our industry partners as they support the health care sector,鈥 says Dr. Gale. 鈥淲hen the pandemic hit and we saw reports of health care workers in urgent need of personal protective equipment, we reached out to Island Health and offered to help because the culture of 天美传媒 is and always will be a service to the community.鈥
Contact information
Ivan Watson
Communications & Marketing Strategist天美传媒