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Jody Brown and other students in his mechanical engineering class had been working on their senior projects since fall semester. With the end of spring semester approaching, they were within sight of completing it.<\/p>\nJody Brown and other students in his mechanical engineering class had been working on their senior projects since fall semester. With the end of spring semester approaching, they were within sight of completing it.<\/p>\n
Then the coronavirus hit and everything changed, including their senior project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had spent nearly a year on our previous senior design project with the intentions of finishing it. However, when COVID-19 broke out, Dr. Elliott had the idea that, as engineers, we should contribute in some way for the cause,\u201d said Brown, who\u2019s majoring in mechanical engineering.<\/p>\n
Dr. Elliott is Trevor Elliott,\u00a0UC Foundation assistant professor of mechanical engineering who instructed students his\u00a0Interdisciplinary Design Project II class to refocus their work on coronavirus-related projects.\u00a0Brown and fellow student Brach Burdick are coming up with concepts to make filters for masks similar to the N95 respirator masks now in short supply nationwide for health care workers.<\/p>\n
Other students are examining concepts to manufacture respirators and ventilators, both of which are needed to fight the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
At this point, all the designs are in still inside the students\u2019 heads and on their computer screens. No prototypes have been manufactured. But that\u2019s the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially (it is)\u00a0something a manufacturer can make for the public if our research pans out and we can make some sort of prototype that shows promise,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
Determined to help with the battle against COVID-19 but also realizing that course requirements had to be fulfilled, Elliott said he figured students would be alarmed at bringing their former projects to a screeching halt and taking a hard turn in a different direction. But he was mistaken, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe initial enthusiasm and desire the students have to help the community was overwhelming to me, especially with such great academic (among other) loss by not being able to complete projects they had already worked on since August of last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very proud of them because in this time their response was to put aside their frustrations and losses and say \u2018How can we use our skill sets and talents to help people?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n