in university centers across the country. First, however, the students had to figure out how to prevent the shields from fogging up, which makes it hard for wearers to see.
The idea for the project came about because dentists needed clear shields that also could accommodate dental loupes, the magnifying glasses they wear while examining patients' mouths.'s 3D printers, which had previously been used to create and investigate medication-filled 3D-printed dentures, smart fillings and bone regenerative scaffolds, were sitting idle once the pandemic hit.
Remarkably, Gadhar, one of the primary researchers, was a student at Williamsville North High School at the time. He read about the PPE project in the local news and wanted to help rectify the condensation problem, Arany said. Through a largely online collaboration, he was invited to join the research team and came up with the exact formulations that were eventually tested in the lab. He's now a biomedical engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin.
A total of 20 students contributed to the research and the 3D printing, along with designing and operating a PPE website and manufacturing and delivering the PPE devices.