Dyson Co-Vent Ventilator
At the request of the UK government, Dyson put together a team of design engineers to create 10,000 ventilator units in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For this project I volunteered double hours overtime to bring the Co-Vent Ventilator from initial concept to viable design in 30 days.
Engineering Design
On this project Dyson worked with the technology company TTP. This partnership was meant to integrate TTP’s experience of medical device design with Dyson’s ability to take concepts to reality. As part of the mechanical integration team it was my job to assure all of the technology that went into making the ventilator operate was safely secured, easy to assemble, and sensibly placed.
Structural Design
In handling the mechanical integration of the design, my team was also the de-facto leads on the structural design. There were major concerns about how the product would handle extreme situations given the delicate and life critical components which it held. Ultimately, the design we made was able to survive a fall onto a concrete floor and still continue working.
Design for Manufacturing
One of the greatest challenges of this project was creating a design that could be manufactured on site in Hullavington using suppliers that were based in the UK, and avoiding manufacturing methods that required long lead times. This goal was achieved by creating a design that was simple, yet effective.
Final Design
Our team at Dyson was able to successfully meet the UK government’s challenge, and was fully prepared to produce ventilators in our facility at Hullavington. Fortunately, it was deemed not necessary to produce the ventilators.
