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Alumni on the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Conor McArdle '06, Video and Digital Content Specialist at MIT’s Project Manus

Quick update about your life after VA
 
After I left VA (4 years as a student and 6 years as a faculty member teaching Digital Art), I moved to Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey where I worked as the Assistant Director of Multimedia Strategy and Production in the Communications department. After a year in New Jersey, I moved to Somerville, MA, and have been at MIT for three years.
 
What is your official job/title?
 
Video and Digital Content Specialist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Project Manus.
 
How has the job changed and/or shifted during the pandemic? 
 
I am still doing what I always do — web design, video production, social media — but our focus has shifted from MIT makerspaces and student maker communities at MIT to the design, fabrication, and distribution of PPE face shields. My boss Professor Martin L. Culpepper in the department of Mechanical Engineering led a team at MIT to design and manufacture face shields using a process called die-cutting. The MIT COVID-19 Face Shield is adjustable, lightweight, and arrives as a clear, flat sheet in a box of 125 or 250 which can be assembled in under 60 seconds. This wrap-around face shield is designed to be worn comfortably for long periods of time and provides extended splash coverage on the top, sides, and bottom. Face shields prolong the usable life of N95 respirators and surgical masks, as well as protecting the face and eyes. MIT donated 40,000 of the first shields and Polymershapes, our manufacturer, donated 60,000 shields to predetermined hospitals, EMS, and urgent care facilities around Boston, New York, Louisiana, Iowa, and more.
 
So I’ve been working on this project, building websites like mitshield.com and working with media and video production. We were featured on NBC and the Boston Globe, among others.
 
 
 
How can VA alumni and the greater VA community help you and other healthcare professionals?
 
VA alumni can visit project-manus.mit.edu/fs to learn more about the project and donate shields or purchase them for their own PPE needs if they are so inclined. We are prioritizing medical professionals and first responders at the moment.
 
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