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IACMI supporting US healthcare system to fight Covid-19

27 Apr '20

3 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation is supporting US healthcare system to fight Covid-19. It is leading recovery efforts through coordination and communication, manufacturing assistance, and post crisis recovery planning. As part of this, IACMI led a University of Tennessee effort to create 3d-printed frames for face shields.

The expertise embodied in IACMI’s members span technologies in advanced composites, additive manufacturing machine tools, robotics and automation, biomaterials and hybrid materials that have great relevance to the health care sector. There is broad-serving impact to a range of sectors that benefit from the core competencies, facilities/assets and infrastructure that IACMI offers. Several materials and manufacturing approaches are directly applicable to health care infrastructure such as personal protective equipment (PPE), medical devices, modular health care facilities and accessories.

IACMI is leading recovery efforts through coordination and communication, manufacturing assistance, and post crisis recovery planning. The coordination and impact of this organisation, its partners, and the Manufacturing USA network collectively reflect the global scale, adaptability, scalability, and much-needed rapid response for the challenge. Input on the effort has included physicians and other health care personnel providing key insights on needs, wants, and first-hand perspective on form, fit, and function of PPE.

As part of this effort, IACMI CTO Uday Vaidya led a University of Tennessee effort involving students, university labs, community members, and over 60 printers, to rapidly create more than 5,500 3d-printed frames for face shields for the State of Tennessee for its emergency response efforts.

The institute has created a robust Covid-19 information page on the IACMI website that includes current response efforts and resources for federal, state, and shared databases. IACMI’s Surf Facility in Detroit, Michigan managed by Michigan State University in collaboration with LIFT has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to nearby Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Centre in support of the fight against coronavirus.

It also served as part of the Purdue University team producing medical supplies and working to reinvent development processes that are better aligned with demand. The institute is providing thought leadership and innovation connectivity to aid Dassault Systèmes in its frugal innovation approach to design that can reduce product complexity and costs facilitating solutions such as 3d printing of spare parts and super-fast design for manufacturing of masks or ventilators, and is sharing information with other Manufacturing USA Institutes.

IACMI is also contributing to a shared database of resources and needs and promoting links to information repositories and medical device information at MXD and America Makes websites, convening ecosystem partners and providing input to key global technology companies that are pivoting their respective businesses to provide manufacturing assistance, and collaborating with manufacturing partners to determine alternatives to N95 mask.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)