In a series of steps taken by the United Arab Emirates, an innovation of a ‘Reusable 3D Printed Mask’ has been added thanks to the efforts of a team of researchers at its Aerospace Research and Innovation Centre(ARIC).

The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Khalifa University of Science and Technology and it was revealed that these masks are a potential replacement for the standard Maska that are used to prevent Covid-19—N95. This decision is especially helpful after reports of shortage of N95 masks came into knowledge.

A lot of things concerning the development and making of masks are being considered by the makers which range from design, necessary requirements of filtration, material suitability and manufacturability, geometric/fit and flexibility.

A prototype of such a mask has already been completed and is going through. Number of assessments and once everything is finalised and it is approved by the authorities, it will be open for the market. One of the many specialities of this mask is that it is made up of medically graded materials.

The regular sets of the PPE kits, that include an N95 respirator and a surgical mask, are in shortage and will be essentially kept for the health workers and officials who are more prone to contracting the virus. The kit protects a person by filtering the airborne particles and from liquid that contaminates the face.

"Community-relevant research has always remained a key pillar of our strategy and we are keen to offer our resources to support R&D in this area, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current situation is unprecedented in history, and has created challenges that require smart scientific solutions through innovation. We believe through the research work at ARIC, we would be able to offer a suitable solution to tackle the challenges posed by the pandemic and protect our frontline defence with this mask,” said Dr, Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President of the Khalifa University of Science and Technology.

ARIC is one of the leading research centres in the country that focuses on advanced manufacturing and robotics. Through its advanced structures and techniques, ARIC has so far completed nine main industry focused projects, as many as 28 student-led projects that involved 65 students from the UAE. It also has more than 30 academic publications in reputed research journals.

WAM