Delta Delta Brothers Address Ventilator Shortage

A group of Delta Delta brothers have been actively engaged since March in a project to address the global shortage of ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients.

Led by Preston Mantel ’18, (who is the younger brother of the Ventilator Project’s co-founder, Tyler Mantel), seven other Delta Delta Sigs have made a visible contribution in the development of this product.  A number of others have provided guidance, feedback and financial support.  Delta Delta Sigs currently involved:

• Preston Mantel ‘18 – Operations, Media, Marketing, connections management, fundraising
• Jake Thieneman ’18 – PR and media outreach
• Zach Frauhiger  ’12 – Fundraising
• James Ray ’20 – PR and social media outreach
• Sam Schiavitti  ’22 – Engineering specifications for DFM (design for manufacturing)
• Drew Cagnassola ’15 – FDA approval under the EAU
• Xavier Thompson ’18 – Fundraising advisor and manufacturing, supply chain, and distribution connections
• Alec Trono ’18 – Venture Capital Connections

AIRA Ventilator

Addressing the Global Ventilator Shortage

When COVID-19 illuminated the global ventilator shortage, Tyler Mantel redirected his efforts from his robotics startup company to creating the non-profit Ventilator Project (TVP).  In just eight weeks, TVP has gone from preliminary design to a fully functional ventilator that has been submitted to a 3^rd party for FDA testing. Once their FDA Emergency Use Authorization is received production of the AIRA can begin.

This success has been the result of a dedicated and determined group of diverse volunteers. Throughout this project, countless people have reached out to help including engineers, medical professionals, FDA experts and software developers. This group includes at least eight Delta Delta Sigs.

For more up-to-date information on The Ventilator Project we’d encourage you to visit their website.  Additional details on the AIRA ventilator can be found at AIRA. Below are some other details on how the project is progressing.

The Ventilator Project

• Founded on March 20th as a non-profit based in Boston, MA (IRS 501(c)(3) status pending)
• Team of volunteer engineers, medical professionals, supply chain experts designing a ventilator that can be produced at scale in order to meet the growing need across the U.S.
• Designed to be sourced and manufactured outside the medical supply chain in order to circumvent the traditional medical supply scarcities.
• Design has been completed and the FDA Emergency Use Authorization is underway (expected completion ~3 weeks).
• Once approved, we expect to be able to manufacture 1,000 units in the first 30 days. Then, production will be scaled to 60,000 units per month.
• $30,000 needed for FDA EUA testing, so manufacturing can begin
• With FDA approval will need $300,000 to set up initial manufacturing for the first run of units for U.S. hospitals.

Questions?  Please contact …

Preston Mantel ’18
Public Relations and Media Strategy
The Ventilator Project
(317) 730-4767
preston@theventilatorproject.org
12 Channel Street #202
Boston, MA 02210
www.theventilatorproject.org