Case Study: Meter (medical‑device startup) achieves a 21‑day, under‑$1,000 emergency ventilator design with Onshape (cloud‑native CAD platform)

How the Rise Emergency Ventilator Was Built From Scratch in 21 Days in Onshape

Meter, a Boston-area medical-device startup, was called in late March 2020 to help address projected ventilator shortages. The team paused normal work and—while operating remotely under shelter-in-place orders—assembled about 50 engineers, clinicians, 3D-printing experts and fabricators to design a ventilator that avoided specialized parts and included remote monitoring and alarm capabilities.

By using Onshape’s cloud-native real-time CAD collaboration and built-in version control, Meter completed six design iterations in three weeks and built the Rise Emergency Ventilator in 21 days, at a cost under $1,000 per unit versus the typical $25,000–$50,000. The platform enabled simultaneous editing, instant feedback, and easy sharing with partners, speeding prototyping, preventing revision errors, and allowing use of readily available components to reduce supply‑chain risk.

Meter

Eduardo Torrealba

Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer