Development of respirators and masks for the NHS

March 26, 2020

As a school we hope to do our bit to support the NHS in any way we can during the Covid-19 pandemic. Consequently we are in the early stages of designing and producing N95 respirators and surgical masks for potential use by frontline NHS staff.

We have four 3D printers in the Technology department which are currently being used to build prototype respirators and masks. So far, five test masks have been produced and are being tested for comfort as they need to be worn for long hours. We are waiting to hear if they are viable, or if amendments need to be made.

The production process is very straightforward and only needs one teacher from the department to volunteer at a time, so social distancing can be maintained. We are also hoping to show students the production process in action by live streaming it as part of a virtual technology class now that we have switched to distance learning for our students.

For further information about how 3D printing can help, you can join the online community forum Hack the Pandemic