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Suggested Citation:"1 Engineering in a Pandemic." National Academy of Engineering. 2021. Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26093.
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1

Engineering in a Pandemic

In December 2019, the first cases of a respiratory disease caused by an unknown infectious agent were reported in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province, China. Over the next few months, the disease spread around the world, causing widespread illness and death. The numbers “are staggering,” said David Walt, the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School, during his plenary presentation at the 2020 annual meeting of the National Academy of Engineering. “Every time I update [the numbers], I am saddened by how many more people have been infected and how many more people have died.”1

The virus that causes the disease, which was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the seventh member of the coronavirus family that has been reported to infect humans, Walt explained. Four of the seven cause mild symptoms in humans, but three produce more severe symptoms. The first SARS coronavirus, which also was first detected in China, caused just over 8000 confirmed cases across 32 countries in 2002–03 and nearly 800 deaths—a mortality rate of approximately 10 percent. The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, which was associated with an outbreak of disease in Saudi Arabia and other countries in 2012, caused about 2500 cases and 858 deaths, resulting in a much higher fatality rate of approximately 33 percent.

Though the fatality rate for the disease caused by the newly identified SARS virus, named coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19), is lower than for the earlier SARS virus, the new virus has infected many

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1 The webcast of the meeting is available at https://www.nae.edu/243083/Webcast.

Suggested Citation:"1 Engineering in a Pandemic." National Academy of Engineering. 2021. Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26093.
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thousands of times more people. As a result, said Pam Cheng, executive vice president of global operations and information technology for AstraZeneca, during her plenary presentation, the pandemic has posed more than a health crisis. Jobs were lost and workforces slashed. Schools went online and childcare centers closed. Panic buying and hoarding of basic necessities led to shortages of essential items. The stockpiling of medicines and medical supplies threatened shortages across the globe. “No part of the world has been left untouched,” said Cheng. “We have all underestimated the complexity of the issues.”

UNDERSTANDING THE VIRUS

Coronaviruses consist of a protein envelope surrounding their genetic material, which is the molecule RNA in coronaviruses rather than the DNA in human cells. The protein envelope is covered by spiky proteins that resemble the protrusions on a crown, thus giving the viruses their name. When the spike proteins bind to receptors on human cells, the virus injects its genetic material into the cell, where the RNA highjacks the cell’s biochemical machinery to produce new copies of the virus.

Just a few weeks passed between recognition of the new disease and the sequencing of the virus’s genome. “Twenty years ago, this would have taken at least six months, perhaps longer,” Walt said. The sequencing of the first human genome cost over $3 billion and took more than a decade. Today, benchtop devices can simultaneously sequence nearly 50 human genomes for less than $1000 each. “That is six zeros taken off the cost alone.”

Engineers were pivotal to this technological revolution, said Walt. Bioengineers designed enzymes to perform the biochemical sequencing steps. Mechanical engineers developed fluidic systems to move nanoliters of material deliberately and accurately. Optical-electrical engineers provided the sensors that detect faint light signals emitted by the sequencing reactions. Materials scientists and engineers helped create the integrated solid state circuitry that could work in aqueous environments. Computer scientists and engineers developed the computational hardware and informatics needed to analyze the terabytes of data generated during a single sequencing run.

Suggested Citation:"1 Engineering in a Pandemic." National Academy of Engineering. 2021. Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26093.
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THE ENGINEERING RESPONSE

Engineering has also been essential in many of the other responses to covid-19, Walt observed. As biomedical researchers began working with clinicians to overcome the problems arising in clinics and hospitals, both groups “partnered with engineers to help find scalable solutions.” Engineers developed ways to produce needed supplies, such as nasal swabs, through 3D printing. They repurposed equipment designed for other uses, such as anesthesia gas delivery systems, as ventilators. They even produced devices such as shirts with which family members and healthcare providers could give virtual hugs to patients in isolation.

Cheng, too, highlighted the importance of engineering in responding to the epidemic. For example, when AstraZeneca needed to repurpose a sterile powder-filling facility into a biosafety containment facility dedicated to the formulation, filling, and packaging of a vaccine for the virus, engineers redesigned the ventilation system and facility flows, reengineered the filling line, installed vial labeling equipment, and automated visual inspection equipment. The project went from concept to construction in 2 weeks, construction was complete in 10 weeks, and the facility was ready for qualification in 21 weeks, all while continuing to produce the medicines provided previously from the site.

“I have never seen a group of people more passionate, more committed, and more happy to be working so hard,” said Cheng. “It was absolutely fantastic to see what smart and passionate engineers can do.”

Suggested Citation:"1 Engineering in a Pandemic." National Academy of Engineering. 2021. Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26093.
×
Page 1
Suggested Citation:"1 Engineering in a Pandemic." National Academy of Engineering. 2021. Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26093.
×
Page 2
Suggested Citation:"1 Engineering in a Pandemic." National Academy of Engineering. 2021. Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26093.
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The 2020 Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Engineering took place under the most unusual circumstances in the Academy's 56-year history. In January 2020 the first few cases of a respiratory illness caused by a newly identified coronavirus were reported in the United States. By March, COVID-19 had become a global pandemic. As soon as the first few cases were reported, engineers began working wiith scientists, medical professionals, and others in the public and private sector to address needs generated by the pandemic. They brought automation, process control, and artificial intelligence to the production of protective equipment, diagnostics, and therapeutics. They established robust supply chains of critical materials. They strengthened the communication technologies and platforms that allowed people to telework and keep in touch with friends and family members.

The 2020 annual meeting was held virtually. The two main plenary presentations, delivered by David Walt, the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School, and Pam Cheng, executive vice president of global operations and information technology for AstraZeneca, focused on the critical role of engineers in responding to the epidemic. Similarly, the annual forum, held the next day and organized by NAE executive officer Al Romig, Jr., and a distinguished organizing committee, was entitled "Engineering for Pandemics: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery". The plenary and forum presentations, which are summarized in this volume, abundantly demonstrate the essential functions that engineers have performed in responding to the virus. They also reveal the lessons derived from engineering that must be absorbed to prepare effectively for future pandemics and for other disasters, expected and unexpected, that will certainly occur in the future.

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