With an aim to develop better respirators with new manufacturing processes that can be ramped up on demand, protecting both healthcare workers and the public, the University of Michigan researchers co-led a project that can diminish the N95 mask shortage in the future. As hospitals struggled to source personal protective equipment in 2020 during the pandemic, U-M researchers generated ideas for local and cost-effective manufacturing of better N95 filtration materials and manufacturing systems for innovative designs, according to Albert Shih, U-M professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, whose lab is coordinating the project.
