More UPM Initiatives To Help Handle Covid 19 | CLINICAL AND CANCER RESOURCE EDUCATION UNIT (CCARE)
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More UPM initiatives to help handle covid 19

SERDANG - Two lecturers and a student from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) took the initiative to make face masks or face masks in their respective homes for every need of front liner staff in several hospitals around the Klang Valley.


The project was developed by Ts Dr Mohd Shahrizal Dolah, Dr Saiful Hasley Ramli and postgraduate student, Mohd Firuz Mohd Anwar from the Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Design and Architecture (FRSB) UPM.

Dr Mohd Shahrizal, who is the head of the volunteer project, said that his party used its own expenses and surplus materials from research grants from the contributions of three other lecturers, namely Dr Siti Mastura Ishak, Fabian Husna and Dr Velu Perumal.

He said their group also received equipment from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 3D Printing Malaysia Community for Covid-19 (Group).

He said, the face protection from the team's design was donated to the UPM Instructor Hospital (HUPM) which serves as a laboratory test to detect the initial cases of Covid-19, Serdang Hospital and Kajang Hospital.

"The three of us did not enough staff and were only able to produce 100 pieces of face protection in time"

"Initially, these face masks were sent to hospitals in small quantities based on the number of requests but eventually the demand increased and all the groups involved with 3D Printing Malaysia Community wrapped face masks like hospitals in designated regions," he said.

Dr Mohd Shahrizal said, his party used 3D Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) for making reusable frames, thin plastic book covers weighing 80 grams (for front cover), glue, tape and elastic rubber to produce such faces.

According to him, the manufacture of the face shield piece takes an hour and a 3D printer can be made as many as 15 pieces a day.

"We work from home using the Internet of Thing (IoT) working concept where all printing data is shared using a downloadable 'cloud'.

“Currently, the three of us use three three-dimensional printing machines in our respective homes and get production assistance from the Selangor 3D printing team. However, if we can use laser cutters, face masks will be produced faster, ”he said.

He said the demand for health clinics and private hospitals is high and the demand for nationwide is estimated at 5,000 pieces a day as the number of epidemics increases.

"It is hoped that more volunteers will take the initiative in producing this Covid-19 face mask for a long time," he said.

Date of Input: 30/03/2020 | Updated: 26/11/2020 | asrizam

MEDIA SHARING

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