Pelagia-Irene (Perena) Gouma, the Edward Orton, Jr., Chair in Ceramic Engineering at The Ohio State University, was recently featured in the New York Times among innovators across the country working to increase accessibility to COVID-19 testing.
Gouma and her team’s development of a breathalyzer device able to detect COVID-19 in a single breath was highlighted as an example of what “the future of at-home testing” might look like: an alternative to saliva and nasal swab options. The hand-held breath monitor samples an exhaled breath for key biomarkers of the infection. Read the article here.
Gouma, who directs Ohio State’s Advanced Ceramics Research Laboratory, joined the university through the Materials and Manufacturing for Sustainability Discovery Theme, operated by the Institute for Materials Research (IMR). She is the Edward Orton, Jr. Chair in Ceramic Engineering and has a joint appointment as professor in the departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering.
She recently presented her research and development of the COVID-19 breathalyzer during the 2021 TEDxOhioStateUniversity Horizons event. Watch below.
Other IMR faculty members and staff are also engaged in their own, ongoing efforts to apply the expertise, resources and interdisciplinary approach to innovation that embodies the Ohio State material research community to the myriad of problems posed by the pandemic.
Last year, the Institute for Materials Research (IMR) led a coalition of university scientists, engineers and manufacturers with the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence and Infectious Diseases Institute to produce and deliver urgently needed shipments of 3D-printed swabs used in kits to test for the novel coronavirus.
In mid-March, IMR faculty member Judit Puskas, a distinguished professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, presented at an Ohio State COVID-19 Inventor Showcase how her group is harnessing 20 years of innovation in breast reconstruction to develop of a new rubbery face mask that combines comfort with function.
Other projects involving IMR faculty members can be found here.
Story by Mike Huson, IMR Communications Coordinator
Contact: huson.4@osu.edu
Follow: @OhioStateIMR