Abstract
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, industries and academic institutes have collaborated to resolve the worldwide medical supply shortage issues. Innovative designs of 3D-printed items were proposed and developed by the maker community as a temporary solution to address the lack of personal protective equipment. An overview of global ongoing and past initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic along with their challenges on retrofitting full-face snorkeling masks for healthcare applications such as splash-proof face shields, respirator masks and non-invasive ventilation systems are reported in this contribution. This study reviews these global initiatives and challenges. From our analysis, the present situation highlights the need to build solid networks between healthcare institutes and the different rapid prototyping initiatives. A clear feedback system needs to be implemented to facilitate effective collaboration between engineering (maker) and healthcare teams, to optimize the available human resources, and to achieve adequate product developments responding to the needs of healthcare workers.