Proud of our team in their dedication and effort to produce 50,000 face shields for the University of Tennessee (UT) campus in response to Covid19 needs. Every student, staff and visitor will receive a UT-shield, a brilliant patented design by Dr. Maged Guerguis, of the College of Architecture. Our own Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF) team was responsible for the engineering, development and production of the face shields. Each face shield features an injection molded ergonomic lightweight frame and a snap-fit PETG visor. The product can be used 1000s of times, and cleaned with soap-water, alcohol wipes and other methods of sterilization. A 2-cavity injection molding tool and steel-rule dies were used to produce the components. A 100% closed-loop recycling strategy was developed by fully recycling the PETG scrap into flakes of aspect ratio suitable for producing additional parts with the recycled PETG.
Thanks to the UT Chancellor’s office, IACMI-The Composites Institute, Eastman Chemical Company, UT College of Engineering & College of Architecture and all our students & staff (led by Stephen Sheriff and Joe Gausphol) who helped with this major undertaking.
If you are interested in a complimentary face shield, please write to Vanina Ghossein, vghossei@utk.edu.