Physics Profs Assist in Ventilator Effort

Buffalo, NY - During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, two Canisius physics professors joined a multi-university effort to develop inexpensive ventilators. 

Michael Wood, PhD and Erden Ertorer, PhD, collaborated with researchers at the University of Florida Center for Safety, Simulation and Advanced Learning Technologies to design, build and test an inexpensive version of the lifesaving device. 

Wood and Ertorer volunteered to test the ventilators’ electronic control software, which is made of common circuit elements and programmable micro-controllers called Arduinos.  The Canisius Physics Department teaches programming of micro-controllers in its Basic Electronics course and introduces Arduinos in its Introduction to Engineering course.