Binghamton University's Watson Biomedical School of Engineering received a $182,700 federal grant to help fix the shortage of N-95 masks.

BME Chair and Professor Kaiming Ye and Associate Professor Guy German are leading the study of using ultraviolet radiation to kill the coronavirus on the masks. This would make them reusable. 

The one-year National Science Foundation Grant will help to collect data on the dosage needed to kill a model bacteria that is similar to the coronavirus. 

Ye says they are also trying to solve how to get the UVC light to penetrate into the layers of the N-95 mask.

The team began working with local hospitals for research in early March.

The Watson School already uses UVC light to clean their labs, but there is currently little research on how UVC light sterilization works on coronavirus. 

"The key parameters are not available in literature, have not been acquired by anybody, have not been studied by any groups,” said Ye.

The Watson Team received their funding from the NSF in about two weeks. It usually takes years, according to Ye. 

“We received a very positive response from NSF and the program director. They said yes, this is something that is very important," said Ye.

Ye says he hopes this research could lead to the expansion of using UV light to sterilize public places and air filtration systems.