Feature Story
HITTING CLOSE
TO HOME
It all started on March 27th, says Josh Bintrim as he recalls closing down operations in the Innovation Hub. Bintrim, an industrial engineering alumnus and shop manager, had been preparing for a work from home stint when he felt there was something more he could be doing to help healthcare workers. At the time, Bintrim’s wife, Heather, a nurse in the emergency department at Ruby Memorial was 23 weeks pregnant with their second child. “She has an iron will and did not complain once,” Bintrim said. “So, it was kind of personal for me. Naturally, we also have a lot of friends that work at WVU Medicine.” Bintrim, along with Kelsey Crawford, also a shop manager, began by brainstorming and testing designs on various pieces of equipment for different types of protective gear. The process was challenging. Bintrim and Crawford needed to figure out how to modify the designs so they could be produced in large amounts in a short period of time. “It started with face shields and then we moved to masks and began exploring materials for those. Then, while we were doing that we were working on the extenders,” Crawford said. “We sampled them out to Josh’s wife and a few of my friends who are in the medical field and they loved them. Once productions began on the extenders, they really didn’t stop.” To protect themselves and others from exposure to COVID-19, healthcare professionals were required to wear face masks throughout the duration of their shift. This necessary change brought with it its own set of problems — the bands attached to the masks cause irritation to the skin behind the ears, making them uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. The mask extenders created by Bintrim and Crawford reduce the pressure behind the ears, affording the user an increased measure of comfort. “The responses were overwhelmingly positive, and people were incredibly thankful,” Bintrim said. “The hardest part has been trying to tell everyone that we are the ones that are thankful for what they do and for the risks that they take by simply going to work every day. We are just trying our best to support them in the fight.”
24
2020
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ENGINEERINGWV MAGAZINE
FALL
JOSHUA BINTRIM Innovation Hub Shop Manager of Rapid Prototyping Workroom “The hardest part has been trying to tell everyone that we are the ones that are thankful for what they do and for the risks that they take by simply going to work every day. We are just trying our best to support them in the fight.”
During a shift at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, a registered nurse wears a surgical mask extender created by the Innovation Hub.