On. Aug. 12 Governor Ned Lamont, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, UConn President Tom Katsouleas, and state and local officials toured Connecticut Biotech, a new innovative start-up company in South Windsor producing 3D-printed face mask frames.
Under the leadership of UConn Health research team leader Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, UConn developed the technology to create a custom mask frame that makes regular surgical masks more protective and helps to secure filtration.
The concept of using facial-recognition software to pinpoint 3D-printing specifications for custom fitting — for which UConn submitted a patent application in mid-April — is among a series of recent efforts by UConn Health’s Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Connecticut Biotech has started manufacturing and selling limited 3D-printed mask frames to help refine and improve the manufacturing process for larger scale distribution later this year.
Also participating in the press conference and tour of Connecticut Biotech’s production line were State Sen. Saud Anwar, state Rep. Tom Delnicki, South Windsor Mayor Andrew Paterna, South Windsor Town Manager Michael Maniscalco, Connecticut Biotech CEO Donald Vaccaro, and frontline UConn John Dempsey Hospital ICU Nurse Kaitie O’Connor.
