The Engineering Themes Program, an engineering mentoring program at the Illinois Institute of Technology is calling on engineering students and faculty to offer their technical expertise and to develop creative solutions to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The call to action is aimed at students and faculty of the Armour College of Engineering interested in exploring ideas, procedures, designs or devices to help end or at least manage the COVID-19 crisis. Such solutions might include developing devices or methods for preventing the spread of the virus, creating diagnostic tools, devising ways to better care for patients or supporting healthcare workers through the development of personal protective equipment (PPE), which is currently in short supply.

Participants will be placed on teams and the materials and tools the teams use to devise a solution will be funded by a stipend from the Armour College of Engineering.

Those who want to register a team and apply for project funding, can submit their proposals here. Submissions will be accepted through May 30, 2020.

The Engineering Themes Program mentors engineering students to develop and contribute engineering solutions to global problems.

No stranger to offering solutions to global problems, engineers around the world have already developed ways to battle COVID-19. For instance, a group of engineers in Italy 3D printed valves for critical medical equipment that were unavailable due to a disrupted supply chain.