New Engineering Challenges

Violeta Carvalho
Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center (MEtRICs-UMinho),
School of Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, Guimarães, Portugal 

Over the years, engineering has changed the world by solving problems that arise in a large number of specialty areas. Despite the great achievements that have been made, new challenges continue to arise, and the COVID-19 crisis is a great example of that. Although the medical and clinical staff play a vital role in fighting this pandemic crisis, engineers have also performed an important mission, by allowing to bridge the gap between medicine and engineering, not only in the development of new ventilators but also in the development of innovative masks, which is the focus of the i9Masks project.

The present seminar showed the applicability of different 3D printing techniques in the development of innovative masks for Covid-19, focusing on Fused Deposition Modelling and Stereolithography techniques. By providing some practical examples of the application of both techniques, the main advantages and drawbacks of each one were addressed, highlighting key points that should be considered when developing the masks’ molds. Additionally, the importance of combining numerical modeling and experimental tests was also demonstrated, providing to students an overview of how they could combine both methods in order to improve their work.