AON3D Takes Part in Code Life Ventilator Challenge to Help Ease the COVID Crisis

COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented increase in need for medical supplies around the world, particularly ventilators, which are are essential for serving patients who need respiratory support. Many hospitals around the world continue to struggle with ensuring they have enough ventilators to support their patients who require respiratory support.

The Code Life Ventilator Challenge, hosted by the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, brought together professionals to design a low-cost, simple, and easy-to-manufacture ventilator that can serve patients experiencing COVID-19 respiratory challenges in a short timeframe. The goal was to put together a design suitable for low-resource settings in many developing countries, while also accessible from a cost perspective. A committee of expert advisors, including Intensive Care Unit (ICU) physicians, engineers and technologists was assembled to provide support and judge submissions. Backed up by a $200,000 CAD prize, the challenge has selected three finalists who will have their designs moved to the production stage and prizes will be awarded based on the extent that each individual design is used by qualified manufacturers around the world. When the challenge closed on March 31st, it had attracted over 1000 teams, with over 2600 participants from 94 countries.

AON3D was proudly selected to be one of the partners supporting the challenge, along with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Nicholas Nadeau, Ph.D., P.Eng., Engineering Manager at AON3D, was asked to participate as a technical expert and mentor to help with the prototyping phase. “I’m honoured to have been nominated to support the COVID-19 Code Life Ventilator Challenge. As a Montreal-born-and-trained engineer, it was a privilege to be able to give back to the community and do my part in fighting the pandemic,” said Dr. Nadeau. “This experience has opened my eyes to the dedication, agility, and creativity of professional and hobbyist designers when faced with a global pandemic.” He will continue to act as an advisor and bridge for AON3D’s additive manufacturing expertise as the challenge participants bring these designs to the manufacturing stage so they can serve patients suffering from COVID-19 around the world.