Page 13 - Penn State Mechanical Engineering Magazine 2020

Mary Frecker, professor of mechanical engineering and the Riess Chair in Engineering at Penn State, felt much of the same trepidation and anxiety that most are grappling with facing the emergence of COVID-19.
But she realized that, as the director of the Penn State Center for Biodevices, she had a role
in helping to explore solutions.
The launch of the MASC initiative provided a catalyst for Frecker to rally researchers affiliated with the new center in the ongoing fight against the global pandemic. Now, Frecker has become one of the leaders at the forefront of the group, continually pursuing research projects to aid in combatting the current pandemic and looking ahead to the future.
“In the face of so much uncertainty and fear, channeling their energy into this initiative may help everyone cope,” Frecker said. “In this short time, it is apparent there are a lot of people within the University who are willing and able to help. Through the center’s ability to connect researchers, we can help maximize their impact.”
Drawing upon the momentum of MASC as a whole, Frecker sent out the call in the spring for additional Penn State researchers in the biomedical field who could contribute. Demonstrating the strength of the center’s existing network, reactions were immediate.
“The response was overwhelming,” she said. “Especially graduate students, many of whom are still in State College and can’t work on their research projects because research labs are closed, are ready and willing to contribute.”
Overall, the center has received commitments from more than 100 additional faculty members and students.
“This pandemic has highlighted the need for us as researchers to be agile and adapt quickly,” Frecker said. “MASC has done that tremendously.”
With so many minds focused on a singular humanitarian cause, their hope is that they will quickly be able to innovate potential, impactful solutions, particularly with sensing and diagnostic devices.
A project spearheaded by a researcher in the center, Weihua Guan, assistant professor of electrical engineering, aims
to create a fully automated and streamlined device that potentially could provide an accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 in less than 45 minutes.
“We need better ways to test people that are feasibly scalable to huge numbers,” Frecker said. “That is work well suited for us.”
“It is apparent there are a lot of people within the University who are willing and able to help. Through the center’s ability to connect researchers, we can help maximize their impact.”
Serving as a hub for researchers in the biodevices field, the center now has additional visibility, with Frecker serving as one of the leaders of MASC.
“We have this research center to draw collaborators together from across many fields,” Frecker said. “Especially now, we know we can’t help solve these problems within a single discipline.”
Response to COVID-19
Penn State Center for Biodevices mobilized for COVID-19 response
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