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Joining forces on face shields

UNC students and makerspace staff volunteers process the materials used to make face shields
UNC students and makerspace staff volunteers process the materials used to make face shields.

COVID-19 response efforts at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University have turned a dedicated group of applied physical science and engineering professors into the closest of collaborators – and yet, they’ve never met in person.

Professors Rich Superfine and Glenn Walters at UNC-Chapel Hill and their faculty colleague Landon Grace at NC State recently connected based on their shared commitment to create personal protective equipment (PPE) desperately needed by hospitals and health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Their determination to make a life-saving difference has them talking on the phone and coordinating continuously as they work together in creative ways to support the coronavirus response.

The efforts of both universities are intertwined and similarly beneficial to hospitals and caregivers in North Carolina. At UNC-Chapel Hill, a team of makerspace staff, volunteers and medical students is producing face shields made of PETG plastic, while a mechanical and aerospace engineering team at NC State is creating much-needed replacement lenses (cuffs) for powered respirators (CAPR) as well as intubation shields. The NC State project is led by the lab team of Landon Grace, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Read more at Innovate Carolina →