Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, people should maintain physical distance to protect each other. The layout of the modern office, however, depends on space efficiency and communication with other co-workers. The goal of this project is to consider how employees can stay visibly connected while remaining protected in existing workspace layouts and consider how to use the solution sustainably after the corona pandemic. Air Shield is an attachable dual fan and filter system which serves to purify the air and protect desk occupants by blocking pathogen transmission with air currents.

Jung Joo Sohn is an assistant professor of industrial and interaction design at Purdue University. Prior to joining Purdue, Sohn spent more than eight years as a UX (user experience) designer in the Corporate Design Center at Samsung Electronics and was a visiting scholar with the Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI) at Georgia Institute of Technology. As a multidisciplinary designer, he contributed emerging devices, new mobile services (e.g., artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and health care), and related user interfaces with cutting-edge technologies in growth markets. Sohn’s research interests lie in the fields of industrial design, interaction design, and user experience. In the fusion of these fields, he focuses on developing technology in harmony with human sensibility and emotions.

Purdue University was founded in 1869 under the Morrill Act of 1862. John Purdue, a local merchant, gave $150,000 to begin the University. Tippecanoe County gave $50,000 and local residents gave 100 acres for the new university. The Indiana State Legislature agreed to name the new school Purdue in gratitude to its largest benefactor. The new university began classes on September 16, 1874 with six instructors and 39 students. Currently, Purdue University has an enrollment of over 41,000 undergraduate (75%) and graduate students (23%). Approximately 2,000 full-time faculty teach and conduct research in Purdue's 157 principle buildings with 377 total buildings on 2,307 acres. Purdue University's schools include: agriculture; consumer and family science; education; engineering; liberal arts; management; pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences; nursing; science; technology; and veterinary medicine. Purdue offers 6,700 courses in 200 specializations. For more than a quarter century, Purdue University has been the largest or second largest in undergraduate engineering enrollment in the country. Purdue research exceeds $347.1 million a year using more than 400 research labs. The University's decentralized 14 library system contains over 2.3 million volumes of information, including a substantial psychology library that has merged with the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education library located in Stewart Center. Purdue University is committed to fostering and maintaining an inclusive community that values the inherent worth and value of every person. A few notable policies highlight this commitment and are found below.