Protective eyewear for Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Helping each other is the order of the day. This not only applies in your neighbourhood, but also at the University. Chairs and institutes at FAU have started collaborating with Neue Materialien Fürth (NMF) GmbH, a research centre of the Bavarian State, to manufacture personal protective equipment that is urgently needed by medical staff at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen.
Protective eyewear is just as vital as protective masks for medical staff caring for COVID-19 patients or other patients suffering from infectious diseases. However, this protective eyewear has become very difficult to find on the market. Prof. Dr. Stephan Achenbach, Director of the Department of Medicine 2 – Cardiology and Angiology at Universitätsklinikum, has therefore developed prototypes in conjunction with Prof. Dr. Dietmar Drummer, Chair of Polymer Technology at FAU. After checks by Prof. Dr. Christian Bogdan, Biological Safety Officer and Chair of Microbiology and Infection Immunology, volume production of the eyewear is about to start. ‘We are very happy that the collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen has worked so well,’ explains Prof. Achenbach.
The Chair of Polymer Technology is starting to manufacture protective eyewear and visors immediately, with support from staff at the Mechanical Engineering department and in collaboration with Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH and the Bavarian Polymer Institute. The mechanical and electronics workshop at the Faculty of Engineering in particular was an important partner in the preparations for manufacturing.
‘To eliminate supply bottlenecks and cover the demand of Universitätsklinikum, our manufacturing facility is working three shifts a day, seven days a week,’ says Prof. Drummer. ‘We are currently producing 6000 pairs of protective eyewear a day, but we will be able to increase this to 8000 pairs a day after fine-tuning our production process.’
Further information:
Prof. Dr. Dietmar Drummer
Chair of Polymer Technology
Phone: + 49 9131 8529700
dietmar.drummer@fau.de