IEEE pulse
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At this time many (if not all) colleges and universities are on lockdown, students have returned home, and classes have transitioned to online instruction. Students in capstone design courses around the country have no access to their school's maker spaces and test equipment. Their prototype parts may be stored in a locked maker space, making it difficult to build, test, and deliver prototypes to sponsors or clients at the end of the semester.z.
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As the number of coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) cases in the United States began mounting in the early weeks of March, health care workers raised the alarm about a looming shortage of ventilators to treat patients. On March 30, 2020, Ford Motor Company announced plans to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days [1], and General Motors followed suit on April 8, stating that it would deliver out 6,000 ventilators by the end of May and another 24,000 by August [2].
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As the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus continues to spread, researchers from across the world are harnessing their skills and opening their labs to contribute to solutions for managing and addressing the health crisis. One area identified by hospitals and medical providers as a critical need has been the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), which is required to keep health care providers safe from exposure to the virus as they care for patients. In response, manufacturers such as 3M have promised to increase production in order to fulfill the extensive orders. However, medical providers may not see the bulk of these outputs for weeks even as current supplies are running low.