Johor Bahru – The Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah ibni Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah has encouraged UTM community to help the front liners of the country in eliminating Covid-19.

Following that, a group of UTM lecturers who called themselves the UTM Shield team led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Johari bin Surif, had taken steps to produce and provide a number of face shields for the doctors and nurses at all hospitals in Johor to be used in the fight against Covid-19.

The team, with the aim to contribute health supplies needed by the medical team, had struggled initially during the production process, to prepare for the equipment and resources as many shops and supply centres are closed due to the Movement Control Order by the Prime Minister.

Nevertheless the team managed to gather 32 units of 3D machines for the production process and produced 166 units of face shield which is over 100 units of the actual target. The face shields later were successfully distributed to Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru and UTM Health Centre starting from 24th March 2020.

The team received positive feedback from the hospital for the good quality of the face shields. However, the face shield needs to be improved as it has a little air gap which is not suitable for Covid-19 health screening but still can be used for other medical purposes.

At this moment, the team is still increasing its effort to provide a better face shield with new design and function for the hospital as an endless support to the front liners in combating Covid-19.

Among those who play a part in this endeavour are Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid bin Omar, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Prof. Datuk Ts. Dr. Ahmad Fauzi bin Ismail and his team, Centre of Community and Industry Network (CCIN), UTM Centre for Student Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (UTM XCITE), and UTM Health Centre.