Archinect - News

GSD-led team is fabricating PPE for Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital

2020-04-10T14:25:00-04:00

As design communities around the country come together to help fabricate new stockpiles of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), a team at Harvard University is undertaking its own PPE manufacturing operation.

Representatives from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have pooled resources, production capabilities, and labor to produce over 1,000 face shields and 750 visors so far.

View of GSD's custom face mask visors. Image courtesy of Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

A team led by Stephen Ervin, GSD Assistant Dean for Information Technology, and Chris Hansen, the GSD's 3-D Fabrication Specialist, is guiding efforts at the GSD, where the school's 3-D printers and laser-cutting equipment is being put to work fabricating PPE.

According to information provided ...

LA Mayor calls on architects to expand 3D-printed PPE efforts

2020-04-06T13:19:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA |LA) chapter has been asked by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to aid the city in its efforts to expand the growing #OperationPPE initiative that has taken root in the city.

Initiated by a team led by University of Southern California (USC) Associate Professor Alvin Huang, #OperationPPE brings together resources and expertise from throughout the USC ecosystem (including its medical and engineering schools) with the productive capabilities of local architecture firms, universities, and other 3D-printing facilities. The effort, which includes contributions from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and Cal Poly LA Metro architecture programs, has been working around the clock over the last week to manufacture makeshift Personal Protective Equipment for area hospital workers who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Previously on Archinect: “#OperationPP...

Seattle architects are supplying face shields to local health workers

2020-04-03T11:51:00-04:00

Architecture firms Weber Thompson of Seattle and MZA of Bellevue are helping supply face shields and goggles to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic locally. Over a two-week period, Weber Thompson plans to print 100 bands — the rigid plastic piece to which the clear face shield attaches to protect the wearer. The bands will be delivered to Seattle Makers, which will attach them and distribute the shields.

According to the Seattle DJC, the group's goal is to provide 5,000 shields for "local hospitals, essential businesses and facilities, homeless shelter workers, and others fighting COVID-19. Weber Thompson is using their 3D printer to create the bands for the face shields, each takes about two to three hours to print, the DJC reports.

In addition to the Weber Thompson and MZA, many other businesses have come on to help with the effort, Seattle Maker co-founder Jeremy Hanson told the DJC. Architects can go to the PRUSA website to locate open-source plans for the face shield bands to contribute if they wish, said Weber Thompson Marketing Director Erin Hatch.

#OperationPPE puts architects to work 3d-printing protective equipment for frontline medical workers

2020-04-02T18:42:00-04:00

Across the country, design communities have mobilized to assist in the effort to fill supply gaps in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, Archinect reported on efforts at Princeton, Cornell, and Columbia that are coming together to 3D-print visors and face shield harnesses, fabricate hospital gowns, and manufacture other PPE to serve the region’s hospitals.

Recently on Archinect: “Architecture schools are using digital fab labs to 3D print medical equipment.”University schools of architecture are coming together to aid in the coronavirus response. Image courtesy of Columbia University Libraries.

On the west coast, a project inspired by a call to arms from Cornell University Professor Jenny Sabin has sprung up around the University of Southern California (USC). There, multiple campus entities, including the USC School of Architecture, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the USC Iovine Young ...

Architecture schools are using digital fab labs to 3D print medical equipment

2020-03-25T13:50:00-04:00

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to worsen and foreseeable shortages of necessary safety and medical equipment begin to materialize, several initiatives involving designers have sprung up to aid in the production of specialized protective gear for the doctors and nurses treating sick patients.

Rapidly Produced Face Shields

One effort is taking root through a network of partnerships between Barnard College and Columbia University, where librarians, designers, and technicians at the school's Design Center are working together to 3D-print protective face shields for medical workers.

The project has resulted in the Guide and Design for Rapidly Produced Face Shields, a document created by Columbia's Digital Scholarship Librarian Alex Gil and Research Data Librarian Moacir P. de Sá Pereira that includes a list of materials and instructions for 3D printing plastic protective visors for hospital use.

"Although 3D printers can be used to print complex PPE such as N95 masks," text on the p...

Architects and fabrication specialists join together to mitigate the COVID-19 medical supply shortage

2020-03-20T11:39:00-04:00

With news of COVID-19 affecting individuals across the globe, hospitals and medical clinics are experiencing a shortage in supplies such as ventilators, respirators, and personal protective equipment (PPE). However, as news of the virus spreads, design professionals are banning together with medical professionals and engineers to find solutions to the shortage.

Public Facebook groups like Open Source Ventilator have created discussion forums to help brainstorm, share, and prototype various solutions. A report from CNET dives into this coverage and shares which companies are joining the effort. "HP, teeth straightener vendor SmileDirectClub and various other companies are exploring ways to use their 3D-printing technology to build things like ventilator valves, breathing filters, and face mask clasps." Earlier this week, Archinect reported of Italian 3D-printing company Isinnova and their success in designing and printing respirator valves for hospitals in the area.

Now more than ev...