translated from Spanish: Students use 3D printers to make face masks

With many college classes online due to coronavirus, some students have been using their surprise downtime to gain hands-on experience and help first responders.
Our engineering students are hungry and eager to use their skills to do something to help with this pandemic, said Dr. Shreek Mandayam, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rowan University.

Dozens of students at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., have been making face masks with 3D printers from the engineering lab. Mandayam says some have taken the printers home with them and have found ways to make face masks easier to use. “The filter slot is larger, making it easier to breathe.

Rowan University

You know, when a first responder uses it for a long time, it gets a little loaded there,” Mandayam said, according to Mandayam, it’s been a team effort. The masks are being made by engineering students and then assembled with elastic by medical students at Cooper Medical School, a rowan partner.

Afp

Masks are reusable and conform to a person’s face when immersed in hot water.
Allows people to customize their mask. I would call this a personalized biodefense, Mandayam said.

Depending on how efficient a person’s 3D printer is, making a mask can take an hour and a half to six hours. So far, the group has been able to earn around 300 a week for the first to respond in the area.

Original source in Spanish