In severe cases, COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation, but the world’s supply of ventilators has proven too small for the exponentially increasing demand. “The public health care system in Lombardy is perhaps the strongest one in Europe, but it was near the point of buckling,” said Cristian Galbiati, a professor of physics at Princeton University who has led the design of a simplified mechanical ventilator that can be mass produced using readily available components. To read the full story.