Alumnus Magazine | Summer 2020

Discoveries
Mechanical engineering students Ryden Smith, left, and Wesley Cameron, right, converted a truck toolbox into a UV sterilization device at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.
They delivered their first sterilizer to MSU’s Longest Student Health Center to help extend the life of personal protective equipment and made their design available online for others.
COVID-19 pandemic. From students
turning a truck toolbox into a UV mask
sterilizer to helping companies gather
important data as they transition to making
protective equipment to loaning ventilators,
MSU has continued to find ways to assist
with the statewide response.
“This has been a challenging time
for our state and our university, but I am
incredibly proud of the way our students,
faculty and staff have worked with local and
state officials to help solve problems,” said
Julie Jordan, MSU interim vice president
for research and economic development. “As
part of our land-grant mission, we’re here
to help Mississippi in the good times and
in the difficult moments. The way people
across campus have stepped up during this
pandemic is an embodiment of that.”
For two students working at MSU’s
Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, the
spring semester included an unusual project.
Ryden Smith, a mechanical engineering
graduate student, and Wesley Cameron,
a spring 2020 mechanical engineering
graduate, converted a truck toolbox into
14 SUMMER 2020
a UV sterilization device for MSU’s John
C. Longest Student Health Center. The
device can sterilize 15-20 masks in minutes,
providing a fast and convenient way for
doctors, nurses and staff at the health center
to extend the life of their personal protective
equipment.
“I’ve been really honored with the
opportunity to work on this and help our
health care providers,” Smith said. “This
project is a great application of what we
learn in school because there’s not always a
standard solution.”
MSU made the design of the sterilization
device available for public use so more could
be built. The CAVS teams also made one for
the staff at the veterans’ home in Kosciusko.
With ventilators in short supply during
the early stages of the pandemic, MSU’s Paul
B. Jacob High Voltage Laboratory helped
the state by converting 550 ventilators
from battery to AC power. In the span of
a week, the ventilators were retrofitted and
shipped to the University of Mississippi
Medical Center in Jackson, where they could
be plugged into a wall instead of running
on battery power. Louisville-based Taylor
Machine Works assisted with the effort
by helping procure parts and converting a
portion of the ventilators.
MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine
has also contributed to the response, loaning
two ventilators to OCH Regional Medical
Center in Starkville. Additionally, CVM
researchers have spent time assisting the
Mississippi State Department of Health with
COVID-19 diagnostic work, helping the
state’s lead health agency handle the increase
in test samples to be processed.
As the focus shifts from immediate
production of equipment to other longterm
pandemic response needs, MSU will
continue to help in any way it can, Jordan
said. The university has formed a task
force to coordinate research efforts aimed
at mitigating the impact and spread of
COVID-19.
“These recent months have shown that
MSU researchers have a lot to contribute
to the COVID-19 response,” Jordan said.
“I know they will continue to be a valuable
resource as this situation unfolds.” •
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