Navigating the Coronavirus

Laredo Morning Times | lmtonline.com | Sunday, June 14, 2020 | E3 50th Anniversary “We are assembling the supplies into sampling kits here in our College Station lab,” Akey said, “We know that 2,000 may not seem like much when there are 20-plus million Texans at risk that may need testing, but if you need to be tested and you can’t right now because they don’t have this kit, then it’s a pretty big deal to you and your family. So we are doing what we can right now.” According to Laredo Health Department Direc- tor Dr. Hector Gonzalez, the sampling kits were put to immediate use at the depart- ment’s lab. Later that month, Dr. Tariq Tashtoush worked with TAMIU engineering students to create masks, shields and an aerosol box to support Laredo first re- sponders and increase their level of protection. “I’ve been impressed by the partnership and innova- tion in this project … to see the design process change to reflect the need has been in- spiring. We really appreciate the university’s partnership on this,” Laredo Council- woman Nelly Vielma said. Using 3D printers, they were able to produce eight aerosol boxes, 12 facemasks and 40 shields soon after the lockdowns were initiated. “This opportunity is a very unique and great ap- proach to show how engi- neers can help their com- munity in all situations,” he said. “Our engineering students showed their abil- ity to implement the engi- neering design knowledge they learned in their classes to produce solutions that meet a need while consid- ering public health, safety and welfare, and global, cul- tural, social, environmental and economic factors. We worked together to solve all challenges and came up with affordable and available al- ternatives to reach our goal of providing local first re- sponders the equipment they need.” Efforts from across multi- ple fields continued to focus on helping the community. Courtesy of TAMIU TAMIU officials showcase the aerosol boxes made for the city to help battle coronavirus. Dr. Tariq Tashtoush