As COVID-19 continues to take its toll on cities around the world, health care systems are being strained and doctors and nurses are in urgent need of medical supplies, specifically life-saving ventilators. While we maintain our social distancing to flatten the curve, designers are being asked to act fast to help alleviate the shortage.

The Code Life Ventilator Challenge, a newly announced joint venture by the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, in collaboration with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), is “calling for teams to design a simple, low-cost, easy-to-manufacture and easy-to-maintain ventilator which could be deployed anywhere needed to save lives.” The deadline is March 31, 2020 and the challenge is backed by a prize of CAD$200,000. The top three designs will be made free to download immediately.

The goal, the competition states, is for this ventilator to serve COVID patients in an emergency timeframe. “It should be easy to build locally, its functionality must be easy to verify, and must meet the design requirements specified on the challenge website.” So, get to it! You have less than two weeks – and can truly help the world deal with COVID-19.