Qatar Tribune

QF partner Tamuq produces face shields for QRCS to help in virus fight

One of the university’s laboratori­es has been reconfigur­ed as a production line for face shields

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QATAR Red Crescent Society (QRCS) will soon have 1,000 critically needed new face shields to protect its volunteers, thanks to the state-of-the-art 3D printing and manufactur­ing facilities and expertise in the Mechanical Engineerin­g Programme at Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university. The first batch of shields was recently delivered to QRCS, whose volunteers need more than just a surgical mask to protect themselves from contractin­g COVID-19.

QATAR Red Crescent Society (QRCS) will soon have 1,000 new critically important face shields to protect its volunteers from COVID-19, thanks to the state-of-the-art 3D printing and manufactur­ing facilities and expertise of the Mechanical Engineerin­g Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university.

The first batch of shields has been delivered to QRCS, whose volunteers and workers are in need of more than just a surgical mask to protect themselves from the virus from quarantine­d patients. That’s where the Rapid Prototypin­g Lab at Tamuq’s Mechanical Engineerin­g Program plays a vital role.

A team of faculty and lab engineers examined existing designs for face shields. After fabricatin­g and testing a few prototypes and making design modificati­ons, they arrived at a new design that provides improved protection. The team used advanced laser-cutting equipment to accurately cut the sheets, and state-of-the-art 3D printing machines and design tools to fabricate the frames. The face shields were then assembled, disinfecte­d and packaged for delivery.

Manager of the Mechanical Engineerin­g Laboratory Dr Yasser al Hamidi said, “We are excited to direct our efforts and resources at supporting Qatar Red Crescent and other national stakeholde­rs in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar. We have reconfigur­ed one of our laboratori­es as an assembly and production line to produce large quantities of the face shields. Our dedicated lab engineers are working around the clock to deliver the 1,000 face shields to Qatar Red Crescent.”

Abdullah Sultan al Qatan, executive director of QRCS’ Medical Affairs Division, thanked Tamuq for the valuable contributi­on. “Our volunteers and medical profession­als are doing an amazing job at the quarantine and other health facilities managed by QRCS. These face shields are vital for them to be safe while taking care of the patients. We do appreciate them as an indispensa­ble asset for our country against the coronaviru­s pandemic.”

The full-cover face shields are just one of the several types of personal protective equipment and medical devices produced by the Mechanical Engineerin­g Program at Tamuq. These projects are part of Tqmuq’s mission for the State of Qatar, said Dr Hassan S. Bazzi, associate dean for research and advancemen­t. “At Texas A&M at Qatar, our vision is to be an essential resource to the State of Qatar. The technical expertise of our faculty and our well-equipped engineerin­g laboratori­es are proving to be instrument­al in supporting Qatar’s nationwide efforts in combating this pandemic. These efforts will not only help protect health care profession­als, but will also save a tremendous amount of highly needed resources.”

 ??  ?? The full-cover face shields are just one of the several types of personal protective equipment and medical devices produced by the Mechanical Engineerin­g Program at Tamuq.
The full-cover face shields are just one of the several types of personal protective equipment and medical devices produced by the Mechanical Engineerin­g Program at Tamuq.
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