TrueFIT

"The TrueFIT design can be used to help employees in various industries, like construction, healthcare, and more."

Masks and respirators are the number one defense against COVID-19 and other airborne diseases. Unfortunately, lack of proper fit of N-95 masks as well as other face coverings significantly reduces their effectiveness against the transmission of these viruses. Teammates Siddhant Iyer, a plastics engineering graduate, Justin Marcouillier, a senior in business administration, and Pranav Ramaswamy, a high school student at Westford Academy decided to tackle this problem of a lack of proper testing for fitting solutions.

Their novel solution is a hypoallergenic and skin-safe thermochromic adhesive mounting system that can be applied to existing masks to provide a more conformed and secure seal. This in turn will boost the effectiveness of commercially available face coverings. In real-time users can visualize seal breakthrough and temperature-sensitive color changing effects will notify a user of a leak in the seal in a high-risk environment. TrueFIT was the recipient of the Rist Campus-Wide DifferenceMaker award, a $7,000 prize that will go toward the development of their idea. This prize is sponsored by Kim and Brian Rist ’77, Manning School of Business. With these funds they hope to continue prototyping and gaining patent protection over their product as well as conducting further market research to understand and assess customer needs.