 Hi, the state of clean energy day. I'm your host, Mitch Ewan, all the way from the sunny shores. Well, it's sunny looking out the window now for a few minutes. I'm Panny Oybe on the flight line to the Marine Corps base. I'm really happy to have two guests here, Noel Marin from the Hawaii STEM community care organization and Dr. Craig Berger, medical doctor, MD, pediatric division chief of a local hospital on the Big Island, not to be named. Welcome to Noel and Craig. You guys are at the front lines and you've got a really novel topic today or an item to talk about and that's what you call your Hawaii 600 blue. I love that Hawaii blue reusable face mask. Noel, I'm going to start with you and we'll pop up slides as we go along to illustrate this new product that you guys have developed. Starting off, tell us about Hawaii blue. Thanks, Mitch and it's great to be here again. Thank you very much for this great service you offer to the community. If we can actually put the first slide up, I just want to essentially call attention to this new product that Hawaii STEM community care has put together. It's a reusable face mask and the catalyst for this was essentially our desire to ensure that the reusable masks, cloth masks that are being used by our residents are as safe as they can be and so we've designed this mask to enhance the quality of the masks, cloth masks that are being used out there and in the process we've uncovered additional benefits, namely the fact that we're able to utilize what would normally go into the waste stream for the hospital and that is the upcycling of polypropylene which is a fabric that's used to wrap surgical instruments and Dr. Berger can expand on this a little bit more because he's on the front lines there and importantly what we've been able to determine is a design that allows for essentially effective filtration and we were able to determine that or demonstrate that by having our masks tested in a go through a qualitative task which Dr. Berger can also expand upon. So in some we have to help our community we've designed a reusable mask utilizing polypropylene which is similar fabric that is being used for commercially made face masks and we're distributing these masks to Hawaii Island frontline workers to enhance the quality of the PPE that they're utilizing. Dr. Berger do you want to expand a bit more on the genesis of the project and also the fabric that we're focused on? Sure. Initially back in March when we started when we started having the need to wear masks we started building like regular surgical masks and everybody was looking for a material and we had actually my wife and I had started collecting this stuff because it was such this great material we knew we'd find some use for it someday so we had bags of it downstairs in our basement. So when it came up to make surgical masks we thought well this is waterproof like this stuff beads water off of it it's really unique and since they use it to sterilize equipment it's designed to repel bacteria and viruses naturally. So we started using this in regular surgical masks around summertime when we started to come to this idea that look this is going to be something we're going to be dealing with for you know maybe a year I approached Noel and the group to say like look I have this really excellent material and we can build a mask that's something more towards like a tight fitting N95 mask comparatively with this really good material. The University of Florida back in April started using this material to build N95 style masks which they actually distributed to their anesthesia staff so there's some precedent for this and so Noel's idea we all got together and sat down was look we want to build the best mask possible we want to solve all those problems that you have with the mask whether it irritates your facial hair or you know as one of the women in our group brought up like you know I wanted something that doesn't smudge my makeup I was like well that yeah problems we didn't even know we had. So that was sort of the impetus for designing this thing and we all sat down and kind of pitched it and we were lucky enough to get involved with a seamstress who just used to design bags here on the big island but she has an extensive history and like all sorts of industrial sewing and design but she's been like really excellent and that was from a so-de-kind with the name of her company. So yeah we need to get a plug in for so it's so as in sewing duh of course Hawaii for duh the pine AI NE so duh pine that's her plug. Yeah initially she was making our like surgical style mask for free and donating them out and so she was a natural person to bring in to kind of help us with this next project and she's really been like essential to getting everything exactly right. You know the nice thing is our goal is to really you know you go out to a restaurant or you go or you go out to a target and you see the person working at the counter and there or the checkout and they've got like a who knows what kind of cloth mask on and they're getting exposed every day to people. So really to try to give them a mask that would give them as much protection as possible was what our goal was and then also to back up first line responders hospital staff or doctor's office staff who may be short on the high quality commercial grade masks as well. Well the other feature of this is it's you can cycle it as well. It's what we call that reusable. So yes yes talk about that and if you I don't know if you've put up any of the slides but let's get the numbers slide too so you can actually see what the fabric kind of looks like. Yeah this so just just a note on the fact that it's reusable. So our intention is to come up with a better reusable face mask and what I mean by that is you know the general public has access to these various cloth masks that are intended to be reused right. These are not the single use items that you would find at Home Depot for example. So the idea was that we would offer residents with a better alternative to a regular cloth mask something that would provide them with more protection and because it's reusable it's also more economical. It's intended to be used for a relatively longer period of time. So that's the intent. It's not a one time use mask or a mask that has limited life like an N95 or a surgical mask for that matter and it's meant to be a replacement for the commonly used cloth masks that you see everywhere. I'd like to yeah I'd like to maybe have us talk about the fabric itself and there is a slide three that describes the filtration capability of polypropylene and Dr. Berger you're probably in a better position to explain this. So this slide came from a study that was looking at the effectiveness of the mask or masks as you exhale or cough and so they compared several different materials and one of the things that was exciting was our material was included and now this is a surgical style mask so loose fittings flip over your ears kind of thing but made from our material and it showed that this reused material was very close or almost equivalent to a commercial grade material in either a surgical mask or an N95. So that gives you an idea that a cloth mask whether it provides some protection still allows some of the exhale or coughed out particles to pass through it and that this material actually reduces that by a substantial amount. So it makes it safer for people you're interacting with but we went ahead and tried to design a mask that would actually perhaps we were able to show somewhat in be safer for the wearer as well. Yeah as you see it's almost you know exactly almost as good as that N95-14 which is on the far you know the first item there on the left it's pretty impressive. One of the one of the exciting things that we were also able to determine is so this one would speaks to this slide speaks to the effectiveness of fabric in terms of preventing things from going through right when you're exhaling. Now there were some tests that we've conducted so which would essentially allow us to determine how effective the the the mask would be in terms of preventing stuff from going in and there are a number of tests that are being done that could be done for that and one of them is with the use of a veteran and Dr. Berger again can explain that. So I think a lot of people don't realize when we talk about N95 like when you buy them at you know Home Depot and you wear them for painting and stuff like that really for an N95 mask to work it needs to be tight fitting to your to your face it needs to not let any air in from the side. So in the hospital what we do to test for that fit is we have a we put this really looking silly plastic hood over our head and we inject a like air for eyes they're tasting kind of chemical into the hood and if the mask is doing its job when you breathe in or move around you don't taste or feel that. So we have access to that test and when we were able to show you that with our mask pulled tight tied down correctly you we could keep those bitter particles out of or I could keep those bitter particles out of my mouth. The great part about that is the bitter particle is relatively close to the same size or a little bit maybe even smaller to an aerophilized particle so a droplet that might be carrying the virus. So in the sphere and what we were able to show is that qualitatively is that if this mask is tight fitting this bitter particle won't pass through the mask and so as long as it can't sneak around the side it's probably protecting you from inhale droplets but even perhaps if somebody would you talk or cough near you those particles if the mask was tight fitting wouldn't get inside your mouth or nose that's really exciting. Yeah that's really exciting. So why don't we flip over to the next slide and talk a little bit about washing and mask wearing and all that sort of stuff. Yeah let's flip to that slide. So so this essentially is our message and it kind of summarizes our message and intention as it relates to this project. First of all we continue to encourage the proper healthy habits right mask wearing, proper hand washing and social distancing. This is going to these these activities are going to be are going to persist for a long while even given the fact that the the vaccine for the virus is here it's going to be a while before we get back before the pandemic is over. So these things are going to continue to be important. The other the other point here about caring for our community is that we're distributing these things these masks free of charge to our frontline workers. Now we are dependent on funding and we have limited supplies so we will continue to produce these as long as we have the means to and therefore will distribute while the supplies last. So how do you get the word out to the frontline workers that these are available? Yeah so we have been reaching out we have established a relationship with a number of groups based on the fact that we have been distributing PPE for several months now and you know we'll be reaching out to them. We've been advertising on social media and we've been getting some traction based on just visibility to you know the work that we've done historically and also the fact that we're doing the outreach to the general public and also certain business groups. What's been the uptake like you know this is the second show or second or third show we've had with you guys and you've been so you've been at it for many months so have you kept any data on the number of masks that you've already distributed you know the PPE you've distributed? So for the masks for the mask the we just started distributing just recently it was only the other week that we were we got to the point where we made a decision to move forward so we're making we're ramping up production and we just started advertising this week. We did get our first order from a local health care facility and we will be filling that shortly so it's it's it's nascent we haven't you know we just started distribution. As far as the general PPE distribution is concerned we've distributed you know when you take into account face shields and the mask comfort bands what we call ear savers and all the other PPE devices that we've just created we we've distributed over 3,500 or so of these items to the general public. So yeah hopefully that addresses your question Mitch we will continue to distribute as soon as long as we have the the means to and as long as the need is there. One of the things I also want to emphasize is that we we seek to empower others so the knowledge we have about the fabric the effectiveness of the fabric in terms of filtration we we want to we are socializing that with groups that make masks so that they can leverage the same technology the same you know solution to enhance the quality of the masks that are being produced. So this this is not about this there's no profit involved here we're about empowering the community we're about providing the community with the right solutions and part of that is empowering the mask makers with the same technology and design so we're we hope to be able to influence what others are producing so that will have a bigger impact. So where do you source the material I mean I know doc you got you had a supply built up you know waste not want not but you know when you run out of that eventually people are going to have to order it so is it easy to get this this material and is it expensive or what are we talking about here? The last time I think the last time I think we looked at the direct from direct order it's not that hard to get it comes in large roles I believe it was somewhere in the 40 to 60 dollar range for the roles that we were using however to be honest you know this materials it's so used in hospitals that it's really hard to you know we are backlogged in storing this stuff it's really easy to get and our production I mean we've made 500 masks and I think we basically just broke one of our collection bags so you know we'll be happy to get more and it's so easy to come by. That's awesome so better than going into the landfill right? Absolutely. Yeah, save people's lives potentially as well. So let's look at that let's call up the next slide you've got yeah so so the the question is how do you get this and if you go on to the next slide you can visit our website highstemcare.org forward slash shop and you will be able to you'll be you'll be taken to this this shop this this store online store essentially and on here just below the fold and you go you can go to the next slide you'll see access to the product page and this is where you're able to place an order and once the order is placed we will we will process them on a first come first serve basis. I'm sorry go ahead oh yes yes I have a sample right here. Wow it's actually not a bad looking mask. Thank you yeah so so the key is visiting the website Hawaii STEM or I'm sorry highstemcare.org and there you'll find the link to PPE and the shop and again this is this is available to Hawaii Island frontline workers we if there are requests from other groups we will you know we will address them on a first come first serve basis with priority of course to our frontline workers and the the next slide is well it's it's essentially a summary of how we're made how this is coming together I want to highlight and the efforts of the Hawaii STEM community care team that's you know worked on this diligently for a few months now. The helo medicals who are they what does STEM mean and remind everybody who the STEM community care team is and what they're made up of yeah so STEM is science technology engineering and math so this is a number it's a hui essentially that was formed early this year in response to the pandemic and the need for solutions to address the PPE shortage. So we have a number of organizations and individuals associated with STEM so STEM education STEM industry you've got Canada France Hawaii telescope you've got Pisces you've got Hawaii Science and Tech Museum Next Tech Hawaii so a number of organizations and their volunteers who have essentially formed this coalition and we have a number of projects that have gone through that we've gone through and also a number of projects in flight and it's all through the generosity of our volunteers. And you have a lot of students involved in this too right? Yes yes we have a little bit about that how the students are becoming involved. Yeah so one of the things that one of the motivations for this particular group is to also encourage interest in STEM and and one way to do that is to actually involve students directly in the process and there have been projects where they actually have done that and what I mean by that is actually be involved in helping with the design of a certain product. The other thing that we try to do is to share the experience that we've gone through to come up with these things with students and in that that process of understanding how a group of individuals would arrive at assessing a problem arriving at potential solutions after identifying root cause testing the solutions and then coming up with the solutions is that that whole process is something that we also aim to impart to students that are affiliated with our STEM groups. So Dr. Berger can you tell us a little bit about the Hilo Medical Center Foundation? So the HMC Foundation is a group that's put together to help provide more resources to the hospital you know they have done things they do have I know they do a yearly like wine and cheese event to help they provide on a very visible level they come around daily with books and items that they give away free to patients who are in the hospital to help them entertain themselves and stuff like that. They work with school groups they do educational outreach they kind of seem to handle a lot of the donation money for the hospital and for us they provide sort of like a filter for the material for us which is nice too they're actually receiving the material from the hospital and it's getting gifted from the hospital to them and then they gift it to us and that kind of gets rid of any awkward you know ownership issues that come with the material. That's been really nice as well they worked with that and they've been working with us without any sort of compensation or requesting anything with us they just want the specific feed and help us take care of our community. So does Kona have a similar one? I see it's Hilo. What about Kona? Do they have a similar organization? I do not know I mean the Kona hospital is like I would wouldn't be surprised but the Kona hospital is like a different entity than us all together. So talk to us a little bit about how you're raising money for this like the mechanics of raising money how do we do that because this it's not free I mean nothing is free you're giving them out free but you require you know you require the generosity of donors out there so how does that work? So the initial funding for the first batch of masks were courtesy of NEXTEC as well as the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum and these organizations receive funding from other organizations like the Hawaii Community Foundation is an example. So the initial batch of masks were funded through those two organizations and we were fortunate enough to have a local donor step up with the opportunity to match up to $15,000 of their donation so we at the moment are also starting to ramp up a fundraising opportunity which is to reach out to potential donors to donate to the project and there will be a match up to again $15,000 from our generous local donor and for folks who are interested in donating if you go to the next slide there is on our website again it's highstemcare.org on the upper right hand corner of the screen there's a donate button and there's the opportunity for us to for anyone to make a tax deductible contribution to the organization. What about if you received any county money or state money to support your areas? Not for this particular project although we are reaching out and are hopeful that we might be able to obtain some funds from the governor. Okay so if you go to your website I mean what about you talked about other people being able to make these or what about getting a set of plans and instructions on how to make these masks? I remember Richard Haw came out with a right at the start of the pandemic with a very good set of plans and patterns for actually making them right down to how you stitch it. Have you developed like a user package there of how you can make one of these? You want to speak to that Craig? Yeah so initially I do have a website with like a surgical style mask pattern for the blue for the blue wrap it uses a different thinner material similar but it's a little more pliable and we have so we have a website for that you know right now we're using this as a way our seamstress you know from SodaKind this is a way to help her put her company back in business and well I shouldn't say her company but to reach out to all of her seamstresses that she had to put out of work during the pandemic to sort of give them some sort of revenue. I think on top of that there is some work with North Hawaii and that they're starting to collect the material and that I think from there we can put together a pattern so I think we're now in the still in this kind of initial stage that we don't have this design yet in a ready-to-go package for easy duplication but I definitely think it's something in the works down the road. I'd like to expand on that yeah so so any interested parties can get and can contact us also through the website there's a contact us link at the top and we will collaborate with them to help them understand access to the fabric and then also we ultimately are going to be sharing you know designs plans but yeah the key is to get in touch with us and we will respond and provide them with whatever information is necessary. So again on the on the website there's a contact us link in the header they just have to visit highstemcare.org okay I'm not sure if we talked about it but what talk a little bit more about regenerating one so you when we started before we started the show the rough you don't put it in the washing machine and wash it you know with your laundry correct correct the material this this material and what they use in regular N95 masks it's not just a mesh material it also has like this case this electrics electric charge that helps prevent the viruses from you know passing through the mask and so that is needs to be protected so you can't throw it in a wash machine with soap and water because the detergent will interfere with that process so we've come up with a couple of different ways one of the one way is that we do a dry heat version where you can put in the oven I believe it's 160 degrees for about 30 minutes and that will clean or remove any of the contaminants from the mask you can also boil it in water for a couple of minutes I believe it's two or three minutes and that will also sanitize the mask and then you have to like lay it out to dry but there's also been stuff published to do you can clean like an N95 using dry heat like in a rice cooker or instant pot um I believe that's a you know I don't know I don't have any data for a hair dryer and that's kind of you know anything with I imagine dry heat would work I don't know how long or how much and because with a hand hair dryer I would imagine you have a lot of variation in you know as you waving it around it might be hard to be very consistent but I was going to I mean the ovenware is definitely an easy way of doing it okay so we're coming up to the end of our time believe it or not um let's look at the last slide and uh Noel let's let's hit the uh the contact part to make sure that everybody knows how to get involved in this program um yeah so I just let me just emphasize highstemcare.org is the website and from there you can access the various information about the PPEs including this particular product if you want to go directly to this product page it's highstemcare.org forward slash hi 600 and um there is a contact us link on the website but if there's a desire to get in touch with someone directly my email address is and Noel G. Morin at gmail.com so that's the end of our show believe it or not this uh so actually this is the last show uh for me for 2020 I'll be back I hope in 2021 maybe if I have one year mass I can make sure that I come back I well we'll get we'll say we'll get one year away yeah well I'll I'll pay for that so anyway I've been very happy to have Noel and Craig here thank you for your service Craig you're on the front lines man like we said before the show started I admire what you're doing for all of us out there and protecting us you're going in harm's way so thanks so much um and that's uh think tec hawai hawai the state of clean energy winding up aloha aloha