ASME Australia Section: Mechanical Engineering and Innovation in (Rapid) Pandemic Response

Description

Engineers can play an increasingly crucial role in improving medical care and practice via innovation, particularly as it related to equity of access and improving productivity – both of which are major areas of stress in healthcare delivery. Innovation is most frequently driven by need or insufficiency, and in this case, need is driven by aging demographics in general, and, as we have seen during pandemic, by disease growth, as well. This talk presents a case study of mechanical and control engineering in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. These case studies cover three ranges or timeframes of innovation when confronted with a major new pandemic, but which are generalisable to a range of situations. Specifically, what can I do now, immediately, with whatever is to hand to address a major problem. Immediacy is contrasted with what can be done longer term to avoid future issues. In between them lies what might be done in 6-12 month timeframes to address major sources of stress on the system and its response. The outcomes range from very simple innovations to potential new next-generation medical devices. The three case studies presented are focused on where this type of innovation or applied design can have outsize impact on care and outcomes – the goal of any innovation (hopefully). Presenter: J. Geoffrey Chase, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ. Learn more about this event and the presenter by visiting the link above. We hope you can join us!