Mask Aid Project
2020
The Mask Aid Project was a collaborative product development project launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the shortage of protective masks. I was part of the founding team and served as the project's digital marketing lead. I created the website, produced videos and other project materials, and presented the concept to potential investors and partners.
The project focused on the Mask Reborn Box, an open-source, desktop-scale device designed to extend the useful life of disposable masks and respirators during periods of PPE shortage. The concept combined four processes, washing, heated drying, UVC sanitization, and electrostatic recharging, into a single device. The recharging process was intended to restore the electrostatic properties of the melt-blown filtration material that contribute to the filtration performance of medical masks. We researched the parameters needed to clean masks while preserving their useful life, then designed, tested, and built a prototype incorporating all four processes.
A key challenge was explaining why electrostatic charge was important to the filtration performance of N95-type masks. As part of the project's educational and marketing work, I produced explanatory videos that presented the science of electrostatic filtration in accessible terms and helped explain why cleaned masks would also require electrostatic recharging. We also developed a device for detecting static charge so that users could verify whether a mask retained the required electrostatic properties. The static-detection technology was patented, and some of these devices were produced and sold internationally.
The project resulted in two patents related to the detection of static electricity and to electrical recharging. It was developed by an international team of makers, researchers, designers, and manufacturing specialists. The technical documentation and development process were made publicly available as part of the project's open-source approach.
We initially pursued crowdfunding through Kickstarter, but the campaign was rejected because the product was considered a medical device. We subsequently launched a campaign through Indiegogo. Although the campaign received some funding, it did not attract enough support to enable production at the intended scale, and we ultimately refunded the contributors. We also ran a small Facebook campaign to raise awareness of the project.
Alongside the crowdfunding effort, we continued developing and distributing the devices. We sent several Mask Reborn Boxes together with a shipment of 1,000 KN95 masks and static detectors to small villages in Uganda, where the equipment and masks were distributed for local use. We also sold a small number of units in the United States, a larger number in China, and several units in Brazil.
Despite these efforts, we ultimately abandoned the project because it did not achieve sufficient market traction. Beyond the difficulty of generating demand and educating the public about electrostatic recharging, entering the medical-products market presented significant regulatory, insurance, and liability challenges. The project documentation also identified the difficulty of obtaining insurance and managing liability associated with medical devices, in addition to the challenge of establishing market acceptance. Expanding into the United States was particularly difficult because the regulatory requirements associated with medical devices made the project commercially impractical at the time.