Steelcase announced its collaboration with MIT professor and disease transmission specialist Dr. Lydia Bourouiba, director of The Fluid Dynamics of Disease Transmission at MIT to study disease transmission in the workplace. Bourouiba specializes in fluid dynamics and understanding properties of turbulent gas clouds that are produced when people exhale, sneeze or cough and how that spreads respiratory pathogens. The goal of the research is to not only understand how these pathogens spread in typical office layouts, but also to develop design strategies for how to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses at work.

Steelcase will be working with Dr. Bourouiba to conduct combined laboratory testing and modelling of furniture configurations and materials to determine the best combinations for reducing the spread of respiratory diseases. The work will happen over a series of phases, insights immediately benefiting organizations by providing best practices to assist in retrofitting or reconfiguring existing workplaces. In future phases, the teams will focus on advanced mitigation strategies supported by scientific research, mathematical algorithms, and modeling to inform better workplace designs.

While many employees are currently working from home due to the COVID-19 crisis, the vast majority, 88-90%* want to work in an office again. In order for employees to return though, the workplace must be safe. Steelcase data about the most common office configurations among its global customers shows that 98% of seats in the office will be at risk. This means these settings do not have either 6 feet of distance between the next closest employee or a space divider that is 54 inches high. Workplaces that were designed to foster creativity and innovation now must be reimagined to help mitigate the spread of disease.

“The workplace is essential to drive growth, build culture, and fuel innovation. So getting people back into the workplace is critical to help jump start the economy,” said Allan Smith, vice president of global marketing for Steelcase. “Organizations want to bring people back to offices that are compelling, but also safe. Our work with Dr. Bourouiba is critical to understanding how pathogens travel through enclosed environments like the workplace and how we can design spaces that mitigate the spread of disease, helping people to be safer at work.”

Dr. Bourouiba and her team at MIT combine multiple disciplines to study the spread of disease, revealing the mechanics of how sneezes, coughs, and exhalations help transmit everything from the common cold to coronavirus. Her research on fluid dynamics has helped inform COVID-19 policies and her 2018 TEDMED talk has been viewed more than 12,000 times.

“Our mission is to apply our scientific discoveries to positively impact public health,” says Dr. Lydia Bourouiba. “The opportunity to work with Steelcase, the global leader in workplace solutions, is exciting because it allows us to amplify our work to mitigate the spread of disease at a larger scale and maximize the number of safe workspaces around the world.”

Steelcase and Dr. Bourouiba hope to publish their initial findings in the next few months.