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

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 regions hospitals.

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 Academy, and theUSC Keck School of Medicine are working to create PPE face masks that come close to meeting N95 standards.

Using a regional network of 3D-printers scattered at participating architecture firms and universities, including University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and Cal Polys LA Metro program, the #OperationPPE effort is fabricating protective gear that could prove pivotal to fighting the virus if existing stocks are depleted and medical workers have to resort to improvised means of protection.

USC Professor Alvin Huang explains: This is what Keck [School of Medicine] has identified as wartime medicine, so we are working on the back-ups to the back-ups.

Working from home offices, school print shops, and firm fabrication facilities, the group has coordinated file sharing and manufacturing initiatives to optimize and perfect the 3D printing files for a N95-like mask meant for last-resort use. The 3D-printed components are designed to snap together and require the addition of a HEPA filter insert and perimeter sealant to properly function. The masks are are a step above using handmade masks and bandanas, Huang writes.

The effort was recently endorsed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who in a recent COVID-19 related televised update announced the Citys support for the #OperationPPE initiative.

In the talk, Garcetti said, Im proud to announce were mobilizing our architecture, design, and manufacturing communities to utilize 3D-printing technologies to aid in the response. Garcetti added that the city was working with local universities, design schools, and architecture firms to utilize their materials and expertise.

Huang tells Archinect that the USC team has support from Gruen Associates, AIA California, and AIALA, which are now providing USCs printing teams with material, including 60 additional spools of PLA, the plastic filament being used to fabricate the masks. Huang adds: We are, however, having difficulty finding sheets of .02"-thick PETG for the face shields, but are trying to source that now.

In addition to Gruen, the effort has received support from a variety of local architecture firms, including:KAA Associates, ARUP, CO Architects, Michael Maltzan Architecture, Brooks + Scarpa, ECM Interactive, HNTB, IBI Group, HGA, KoningEizenberg, Lorcan OHerlihy Architects, Tighe Architecture, and Huangs own firm, Synthesis Design+ Architecture.

Huang writes, Our group is now up to 130+ people with 105+ printers, 3 lasercutters, and 215+ spools of filament. Huang explains that over 80 students are involved in the project.

The designers have published a sign-up sheet for those interested in contributing to the effort. The link includes access to the Keck School of Medicine-approved .stl files that can be used to print the mask components.

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