Coronavirus - Overall
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From today's Times
Formula One rivals join forces in race to build enough ventilators
Under normal circumstances, the Mercedes Formula One team would today be starting to arrive in Vietnam for next weekend’s grand prix to help Lewis Hamilton defend his world title. Instead, they are deeply involved in the manufacture of ventilators to help fight coronavirus.
It is not just Mercedes, though. The seven F1 teams based in England have come together in a single campaign called Project Pitlane. These are highly competitive engineering units whose mission in life is to beat each other on the track, but for now they are racing against time and towards the same goal.
Their factories and competition bases have been locked down apart from those responding to the government’s call to build ventilators. They are working around the clock and collaborating in virtual meetings. As one team leader explained, they will typically have one daily to discuss the next required steps and that will be followed by two to three hours of intense engineering to take them.
One team described it as like “drinking from a fire hose”. Another said: “It’s a case of building the plane and flying it at the same time.”
The switch from making racing cars to ventilators is not only an engineering challenge but a supply chain challenge, with different parts being sourced from around the world.
There is then the test of upscaling from design to mass-manufacture with everything done at speed.
It all began on the day that the F1 season was supposed to start. The Melbourne grand prix was scheduled for March 15 and all the teams were in the Australian city in preparation. Three days before, though, the race was called off and the season suspended.
On the day the race should have been held Pat Symonds, the F1 chief technical officer, took a call from Mark Gillan, an engineer who formerly worked in a number of F1 teams, and is now chief technology officer at Innovate UK, the public innovation agency. The government had put a call out for advanced engineering skills. Both Mr Symonds and Mr Gillan knew that F1 was exceptionally well-placed to help.
They met two days later at Mr Gillan’s offices on Victoria Embankment. The next day they had all seven teams, which include Red Bull and McLaren, around a virtual meeting table with all in agreement that, for the moment, rivalry was suspended and now was the time to work together. This was the birth of Project Pitlane.
“We understand the gravity of the situation,” Mr Gillan said. “We want to deliver product. Since that Wednesday it has been a true collaborative effort.” It was, said Jonathan Neale, the chief operating officer of McLaren Racing, “a compelling call to arms from the government”. He added that it was hugely motivating, too: “We know that our pitlane rivals are fierce competitors and when they are motivated to do something, every one of them can perform something extraordinary.”
The F1 teams are a very specialised pocket of elite output. The quality of design and engineering in England is world-class and, even if not widely appreciated, has certainly become known to a number of F1 teams who, over the past two decades, have made England their base. It is not just British teams here, but German (Mercedes), French (Renault) and American (Haas). “We have in the UK this mix of brilliance in engineering technical knowledge,” Mr Gillan said.
It is this mix that he is calling on for Project Pitlane. He believes that the F1 teams “have probably the best rapid prototyping manufacturing reverse-engineering capability here in the UK”.
He also believes that the nature of their work, on F1 cars, makes them ideally placed for the challenge of building ventilators: “They are used to work in a fast-paced dynamic environment. Their abilities in creating a digital model of a device are second to none. They are used to this rollercoaster on the development side. That is why they are well-suited to this task.” Project Pitlane is a part of a greater campaign called Ventilator Challenge UK in which the government has challenged British industry to produce 30,000 ventilators in a matter of weeks. Companies such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Dyson are involved.
Mr Gillan is leading the contribution of the F1 teams. They have identified three different streams in which to work: reverse engineering existing medical devices; upscaling the production of existing designs; and designing and mass producing new devices from scratch. All seven teams are collaborating across the three streams. Mr Gillan virtually chairs a small governance group across the teams twice a day. “We are operating around the clock,” he said. “It is pretty humbling to see what people are committing to.” Have they had any breakthroughs? “About every two hours,” he said.
Even though the seven teams are usually fighting tooth and nail they have been quick to blend into one. Many of the personnel have worked on more than one team in the past. Also, the international nature of the sport means that they tend to spend the season travelling together to the same places in the same planes. Their challenge has been to slot together an engineering project with thousands of different parts. One hospital in New York, for instance, reported not only a ventilator shortage, but a lack of the necessary accessories such as tubing and filters.
In Project Pitlane one arm of McLaren has been designing trollies and stands for the easy movement of the ventilators around hospitals. Mercedes has been making CPAP (continuous positive airwave pressure) devices, which patients who are able to breathe on their own, but need help keeping their airways open. This has moved so fast that the government has already ordered these devices to go into testing.
Some of it is a challenge of sourcing and procurement. A Williams team has sourced more than 800 components in the past four days. The sourcing is not just from within the UK; McLaren has sourced a particular electronic component from the Middle East and information on valve technology from North America.
Inside each of the seven F1 bases, work patterns have completely changed. Many corners of these bases are dark, in others there are frantic pockets of activity. Staff canteens are shut; receptions are closed. At McLaren, an infamously clean environment where work surfaces are expected always to be clear, staff are, for once, allowed to eat a sandwich at their desk.
“Every one of us is feeling it,” Mr Neale said. “There isn’t any part of our operating world that hasn’t been dramatically changed. There is no sense of normality. It is all: what can we do next to make a contribution?” For McLaren, this call of duty has taken them beyond the ventilator project.
A request came from the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, asking them to make a facemask with a certain type of airflow. These devices have already gone to clinical trial. Other hospitals are making similar requests.
As devices like these get closer to mass production, those working in Project Pitlane can see the value in their work. The intention is to have a new product out and being used within a fortnight. For specialists used to working with speed this is their most important race against time.
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German minister commits suicide after 'coronavirus crisis worries'
RANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) - Mr Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany's Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming "deeply worried" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday (March 29).
Mr Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution's office said they believe he died by suicide.
"We are in shock, we are in disbelief and, above all, we are immensely sad," Mr Bouffier said in a recorded statement.
Hesse is home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt.
A visibly shaken Mr Bouffier recalled that Mr Schaefer, who was Hesse's finance chief for 10 years, had been working "day and night" to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.
"Today, we have to assume that he was deeply worried," said Mr Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"It's precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him," he added.
Popular and well-respected, Mr Schaefer had long been touted as a possible successor to Mr Bouffier.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.
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@antipodean that's heavy.
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Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
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@Salacious-Crumb Well they are more concerned about gotcha moments and any negative about Trump. It is really pathetic. Interesting articles coming out in Liberal rags about the ineptitude of liberal governments and their preparations for pandemics from Obama not restocking N95 after N1H1 to California https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavirus-california-mobile-hospitals-ventilators. Of course they spend their time blaming Trump but he only as been in government 3 years whereas these life long politicians has been living off the wealth of the public for years and have been in charge. At the moment our death rate is at 1.7 percent. Worldwide it is at close to 4 and that does not take into account those who have the virus but haven’t been tested or have recovered, as if they had the flu, so the rate is actually lower. Will be interesting to see the fallout in the end and whether we will continue to pursue a policy that ends up ruining economies.
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@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
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@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
This. If the people who report to you perceive that there is an advantage to be gained in hiding a difficult truth from you then your governance system is to blame. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a social club, a corporation or a country.
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The lifestyle website I used for marathon training (Kenzai) had a blog today about dealing with the psychological demands of this which was great. In a nutshell it said
- Set aside 30-60 mins a day to keep informed. Morning is best
- Communicate using apps with others a LOT
- Do not talk about the virus / media when speaking to others. Talk about life, strategies for kids etc.
So, one week into lockdown, I've stopped reading media / opinions / commentary from people that aren't experts and reverted to speaking more routinely with my friends / family and keep the focus specifically on life, social distancing with kids, exercise etc.
And it works.
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@MajorRage said in Coronavirus - Overall:
The lifestyle website I used for marathon training (Kenzai) had a blog today about dealing with the psychological demands of this which was great. In a nutshell it said
- Set aside 30-60 mins a day to keep informed. Morning is best
- Communicate using apps with others a LOT
- Do not talk about the virus / media when speaking to others. Talk about life, strategies for kids etc.
So, one week into lockdown, I've stopped reading media / opinions / commentary from people that aren't experts and reverted to speaking more routinely with my friends / family and keep the focus specifically on life, social distancing with kids, exercise etc.
And it works.
So where does that leave the Fern....
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@MajorRage said in Coronavirus - Overall:
The lifestyle website I used for marathon training (Kenzai) had a blog today about dealing with the psychological demands of this which was great. In a nutshell it said
- Set aside 30-60 mins a day to keep informed. Morning is best
- Communicate using apps with others a LOT
- Do not talk about the virus / media when speaking to others. Talk about life, strategies for kids etc.
So, one week into lockdown, I've stopped reading media / opinions / commentary from people that aren't experts and reverted to speaking more routinely with my friends / family and keep the focus specifically on life, social distancing with kids, exercise etc.
And it works.
So where does that leave the Fern....
See Number 2 ...
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@JC said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
This. If the people who report to you perceive that there is an advantage to be gained in hiding a difficult truth from you then your governance system is to blame. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a social club, a corporation or a country.
Based on my dealings with them, that is their culture in a nutshell. Don't give bad news, don't make a decision because if it's wrong you're gone. Defer to others at all times
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@JC said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
This. If the people who report to you perceive that there is an advantage to be gained in hiding a difficult truth from you then your governance system is to blame. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a social club, a corporation or a country.
The first rule of being ruled by corrupt evil bastards? Dont give them bad news.
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Interesting stuff. So, last week a 21 year old died here of Coronavirus - with no underlying conditions. She was then effectively used as the poster-child for everybody to take note of the govt requirements to isolate etc.
However, apparently her death had nothing to do with Covid. NHS staff who dealt with it have been dubious as to where this information came from.
Note the guardian article has been removed pending investigation. All a bit odd.
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This post is deleted!
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Overall:
My fellow doctors should zip it and let the experts fight this virus
The bloke who's leading the UK response, Chris Whitty, is one of the top epidemiologists in the world and was responsible for containing Ebola in Africa. We are lucky to have him.
Doesn't stop rentaquote doctors with minimal qualifications telling us all that he's got it all wrong.