This Sunday, April 12^th, our rector Carlos Garatea and the research vice-rector  Aldo Panfichi welcomed, on our campus, president Martín Vizcarra and the health minister, Víctor Zamora. They came to meet the Masi emergency mechanical respirator, a joint project developed by PUCP, BREIN (the Breca Group innovation hub), Diacsa, Zolid Design and Energy Automation Technologies.

Benjamín Castañeda, coordinator of the Biomedical Engineering Specialty, presented this prototype that has three ventilation modes and was designed based on the experience of Peruvian doctors who fight against COVID-19.

“I can only congratulate, on behalf of the Government, this PUCP’s initiative, accompanied by a series of institutions, which joins this effort to produce in our country a high-tech equipment that is currently very useful to face COVID-19, ” said Vizcarra.

We have to provide all the administrative and legal support so that, starting May, they can start a production of up to ten mechanical fans per day, as you have established.”

Martín Vizcarra

President

“Here we have to achieve validation through the institutions of the health sector so that the fulfillment of its objective is guaranteed, and we have to give all the administrative and legal support so that, starting May, they can start a production of up to ten mechanical fans per day, as you have established. If so, we would partially solve one of the problems that this disease generates when patients are aggravated by the virus. This machine is what makes the diference between life and death“, concluded the president.

Commitment to the country

“Our university has completed 103 years of service to the country and has never stopped encouraging research projects, especially those that allow us to give back to Peru what it expects of us and contribute to society,” our rector Carlos Garatea said after the presentation.” “These fans are a clear example of how PUCP is committed to support the fight against this pandemic and to save the lives of thousands of compatriots who are waiting for a response,” he said.

Our university has completed 103 years of service to the country and has never stopped encouraging research projects, especially those that allow us to give back to Peru what it expects of us and contribute to society. ”

Carlos Garatea Grau

Rector

Aldo Panfichi, research vice-rector, also pointed out that the university “is putting all its human and technological resources to help us get out of this crisis“.

“We are very excited to know that the university is supporting national efforts,” said health minister Víctor Zamora. “We are committed to increasing the number of intensive care units and this team is perhaps the most important ICU piece, in addition to human resources. If all the legal, administrative, technological, financial and logistical steps are followed, I am sure that we can quickly incorporate these national technological advances into the set of weapons that we are using in the country against COVID-19,” he concluded.