Abu Dhabi: A new UAE group called ‘Citizen Science’ has been formed as a COVID-19 response team to produce new and vital medical equipment in the frontline fight against coronavirus.
The group of 20 researchers, scientists and engineers have assembled under an initiative by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), an Abu Dhabi-based research organisation comprising eight specialised research centres.
Citizen Science has already successfully assembled their first ventilator prototype, now undergoing internal tests before being sent for external testing and verification.
From TII’s research centres in Abu Dhabi, Citizen Science is harnessing technologies to produce new ventilator prototypes for mass production, use artificial intelligence (AI)- powered chest x-ray machines, 3D print medical equipment parts, innovate new sterilisation procedures for personal protective equipment (PPE) and for large-scale public spaces, and optimise existing ventilators to support more than three patients at a time.
The team of experienced international research science professionals is being led by Emirati doctors, Dr Mohammad Al Teneiji, Chief Research Officer at the Advanced Materials Research Centre at TII, and Dr Chaouki Kasmi, Executive Director of the Directed Energy Research Centre at TII.
Dr Al Teneiji said: “This disease does not discriminate, know boundaries or care about humanity. We cannot fight it with rhetoric or resolve. We must act. Simply, innovating new ways of producing and supplying our frontliners and patients with more efficient medical equipment could be the difference between life and death for many thousands of people.
“Citizen Science has banded together to bring new solutions to the operating table. At this unprecedented time, we are here to act and provide collectively for those who are giving everything for us. We must all be able to look back at this phase of human history and say without doubt that we did everything we could.”
To expedite their work, Citizen Science has called on all UAE-based businesses, manufacturers, distributors, engineers and the wider scientific community to contribute to the initiative’s mass production ambitions.
The full list of required critical equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, valves, UV-Type C bulbs, fans, pet sheets, UV light sensors can be found on the Citizen Science website, www.citizenscience.ae.
