The Mask Innovation Challenge aims to promote face masks that have a better fit, function, and look than existing designs and to nurture the “rather underfunded and a little stagnant” ecosystem of mask development.
In the shipping room of his factory here, Richard Gordon pulls open the drawer of a restaurant-style convection oven to show off a tray filled with his company’s new, freshly sterilized product: multicolored face masks that feature an origami design.
Now, their mask, named the Airgami, is vying for part of the half-million dollar purse in the final phase of the Mask Innovation Challenge, run by the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority . The contest aims to promote masks that have a better fit, function, and look than existing designs and to nurture the “rather underfunded and a little stagnant” ecosystem of mask development, says Kumiko Lippold, a BARDA pharmacologist and toxicologist who organizes the challenge.
With billions of people donning face masks for the first time in 2020—and complaining about their shortcomings—the pandemic has triggered a surge in mask research. In apublished in June 2021, for example, NIOSH engineer and aerosol researcher William Lindsley and colleagues compared 19 widely used face coverings by attaching them to a respiratory aerosol simulator, a mannequin headform that breathes and coughs.
The finalists in the BARDA challenge each offer unique improvements. In Airgami’s case, beauty is important, says Gordon, an electrical and computer engineer—but that’s not why he and Xiao entered the field. Their quest began well before the pandemic, when they moved to Suzhou, China, in 2011 for Xiao’s new job. Pollution there was horrible, and the N95 masks they had brought, made by 3M for construction workers, didn’t fit their young son.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Authorities say California church shooting suspect was Chinese immigrant, motivated by hate for TaiwaneseThe gunman in a deadly attack at a Southern California church was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hate for Taiwanese people, authorities said.
Consulte Mais informação »
Orange County Church Shooting Was 'Politically Motivated Hate Incident,' Sheriff SaysAuthorities identified the gunman suspected of opening fire inside an Orange County church, killing one and injuring five, as a 68-year-old Las Vegas man.
Consulte Mais informação »
Hate against Taiwanese led to deadly SoCal church attack, authorities sayA gunman in deadly attack at California church was Chinese immigrant motivated by hate for Taiwanese people, authorities said.
Consulte Mais informação »
Laguna Woods shooting was 'politically motivated hate' crime targeting Taiwanese, sheriff allegesAuthorities try to determine why a man opened fire Sunday inside Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, killing one churchgoer and injuring five
Consulte Mais informação »
Authorities: Hate against Taiwanese led to church attackAuthorities say a gunman in a deadly attack at a California church was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hate for Taiwanese people
Consulte Mais informação »
Authorities: Hate against Taiwanese led to church attackAuthorities say a gunman in a deadly attack at a California church was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hate for Taiwanese people.
Consulte Mais informação »