Some People are Helping to "Mark Watney" Things During the Pandemic

[Robert Conley's] phone hasn't stopped ringing since news reports this past weekend of his role in designing the Ventilator Quad Splitter, a device that can connect a single breathing machine to as many as seven or eight COVID-19 patients at the same time.

Conley, 56, an associate professor at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich and owner of Interactive CAD Solutions, an engineering design company in Lebanon, said Wednesday he's had inquiries from Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Pakistan in the last couple of days from people interested in his splitter design, which can be produced on 3D printers.
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A Navy veteran who served on the USS Dallas, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, Conley said he has no intention of profiting from sales of his design, should the Ventilator Quad Splitter gain regulatory approvals.

"I'm not going to patent it," he said of his design. "Anybody with a 3D printer can print it out and start making these."

A diabetic, Conley said he's emulating the doctors who discovered insulin, the treatment for diabetes, who he said declined offers of financial reward.

"That was such an important discovery, they wanted to share it with the world," he said. "This is my gift to the world.

Good work, Professor.

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