By Sadie Hussain
KUWAIT: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a meteoric shift in global business and the importance of innovation is now more vital than ever.
Although innovation may sound like a slogan, it is the sine qua non of business continuity in this day and age. Innovation allows organizations to stay relevant in the competitive market and plays a pivotal role in economic growth. It also grants entire economies the ability to combat critical problems, which hinge on sustainable and efficient solutions. The calamity we are fighting today is but an illustration of the many challenges we might face in the future.
Innovation stems from an urge to make a change. Maryam Khalfan and “Shield” is a great example of this. Maryam works as a biomedical engineer with Central Circle Company and recently founded an initiative called Shield that produces medical “face shields” as a protective aid for frontliners in Kuwait.
Shield started as a humble family dialogue. Maryam and her family were discussing the problems created as a result of the rapid spike of coronavirus cases in Kuwait. The discussion shifted to brainstorming ideas for how they could help their beloved country. With her background in biomedical engineering, Maryam came up with the idea of helping to protect the thousands of healthcare workers in Kuwait on the frontlines battling against the virus.
Maryam, together with her sister Fatemah Khalfan, a research officer for the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS), launched Shield and immediately began seeking available resources in Kuwait to realize their goal.
Maryam and Fatemah created a 3D printing community page on Slack and circulated a volunteer call out, requesting experts in Kuwait with experience in 3D printing or CNC machinery to reach out to them. To their astonishment, they received 80 responses from a variety of professionals in Kuwait, who included engineers, architects and logistic experts.
Maryam and Fatemah then prepared a questionnaire that they circulated between various healthcare workers in Kuwait in order to analyse the nature of the problems being faced and the equipment shortages. After receiving over 800 responses, they discovered that face shields and face masks were the most sought after. They then needed the support of an officially recognised institute in order to take their idea forward.
As an active member of the Association for Biomedical Engineers in Kuwait, Maryam organized a pitch to the management of the Kuwait Engineers Society (KES). She shared her idea, the supporting research and identified all the locations in Kuwait that possessed the necessary resources to manufacture the shields, and left the presentation with KES’ full support and backing.
KES agreed to purchase the 3D printers and materials and gave Maryam and Fatemah a location to kick start their initiative. The day the printers were installed the Khalfan sisters with the support of friend and colleague, Eng Hessa Al-Zayed, began inviting engineers, architects, and other disciplinarians in a bid to receive support in constructing the operation. They discussed the idea, calibrated printers and analysed the designs that were most efficient in view of production time and strength. The next day, a member of the Biomedical Association in Kuwait heard what they were doing and opened the doors to the collaborative communal space, Niu to host the headquarters for Shield. Shield Kuwait was finally born.
Maryam then learned of a local doctor that had started a similar campaign, Dr Mohamad Al-Awadh, and had reached out to the public audience on Instagram seeking help to print 3D face masks. Dr Al-Awadh joined the campaign as medical and distribution lead. By early April, Shield began producing and distributing an average of 80 shields a day. Soon after distribution, Eng Abdul Hadi Bo Sakhar, lead engineer from Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), joined the team.
Innovation is the means to advancing society; it not only helps in tackling problems, but enhances society’s capacity to act in times of need. Shield Kuwait began simply as an idea to help fight the battle against the virus in Kuwait; at this moment, they are averaging over 200 face shields a day and are distributing them to the frontlines.