Van Liere Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Nurkiewicz, director of the Center and E.J. “The Hygenmask offers good protection to its users,” said Timothy R. The Center found that Aluri’s mask blocked up to 93% of droplets being respired. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Center has been at the forefront of testing all sorts of masks from N95 alternatives to WVU gaiters to the Singer’s Mask to double masks. Aluri reached across campus to ask scientists with the WVU School of Medicine’s Center for Inhalation Toxicology (iTOX) to test the product. One of Aluri’s partners recommended a sustainable bamboo fabric, which offers a smooth feel but still fits tight around the face, he said.īut you don’t have to take his word for it. So we strived to make it more hygienic and sustainable from a fabric standpoint.” “Some of these masks out there, if you wear them for a long time, it can be really rough on your skin. “The mask is ideally for people who are always at the front desk or talking to people six to eight hours at a time, whether in restaurants, resorts, airports, or any hospitality and tourism industry,” Aluri said. Before Hygenmask, Aluri and his students created Hygenkey, a copper touch tool with antiviral and antibacterial qualities, in response to the pandemic in 2020. WVU HIT Lab is a platform for both industry and academia to come together to solve the problems of the hospitality and tourism industry. Elastic head loops go over the head and can be tightened for a customized fit.
Wearers also don’t have to worry about “elf ears” since the masks lack ear loops. And there’s a notion, from the COVID standpoint, that copper is antimicrobial.”įrom the HIT Lab was born Hygenmask, a three-layered facemask containing a copper-infused nano-coated fabric, a sustainable bamboo fabric and an ePTFE (a biomaterial) filter. “People wear copper bracelets and use copper utensils for cooking.
“Copper has a special place in the culture and tradition of India,” said Aluri, also associate professor of hospitality and tourism management in the Chambers College of Business and Economics. But it’s also an uncomfortable gesture, as some masks may inflict wear and tear on the face or not provide an adequate level of protection for the worker, explained Ajay Aluri, founding director of the Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab at West Virginia University.Īs a native of India, where copper is king and touted for its antimicrobial properties, Aluri thought, “Why not make a safer, more comfortable mask infused with copper when using for a longer period of time?” With the delta variant on the rise, the lambda variant taking hold and an upswing in COVID-19 cases, the hospitality business is seeing staffing issues as people weigh their personal safety against their employment as the pandemic rages on.
Employees manning the frontlines of customer service, whether behind the hotel front desk or the restaurant counter, come face-to-face with folks from all walks of life for hours on end.
0 kommentar(er)
