Bradenton teachers and students use 3D printers to make face shields vs. COVID-19
A couple weeks ago, as the novel coronavirus pandemic continued to intensify in Manatee County, Adam Nowicki noticed something on the Del Tierra Community’s Facebook page.
“Some health care workers were saying, ‘Hey, does anyone have any N-95 masks or any PPE that they’re not using that we can use, we’re running low,’” Nowicki said.
So Nowicki decided, while he didn’t have any of those items, he could help by building some. He researched how to make personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers to combat the COVID-19 disease.
A technology education teacher at Dr. Mona Jain Middle in Bradenton, Nowicki asked his supervisor if it was OK to bring his classroom 3D printer home to produce the items. That led to a growing operation that includes his wife Anne, 12-year-old daughter Sophia, 10-year-old son Sam and 6-year-old son Sawyer.
Nowicki said he’s focused on face shields lately, making 40 last week with plans to have 60 done by Wednesday, while co-workers of his and other members of his neighborhood community have sewn masks.
“I saw so many people reaching out for help and I just couldn’t not do something,” Nowicki said.
Building 3D face shields
Like Nowicki, Michael Mills also felt an altruistic call to help during the coronavirus crisis. A senior at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School, Mills came across a video from a popular YouTube channel, “3D Printing Nerd,” about a week ago. The video featuring Joel Telling had more than 127,000 views as of Tuesday afternoon.
A link to where to get the model was listed, and since Mills already had a 3D printer at home, he decided to start building face shields.
“It takes us an hour to print one face shield,” Mills said. “Then it takes me about another 5 to 10 seconds to 3-hole punch the transparency film and then to assemble it as well.”
Helping others in a global health crisis
Saint Stephen’s posted what Mills was working on to its official Facebook page and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Audrey Avila, a 2009 graduate, currently works as an anesthesiologist in Birmingham, Ala.. She commented on the post about her need for the equipment so Mills is shipping face shields to her later in the week.
Mills has also delivered multiple shields to places in the community.
“Ever since it took off in the United States and then Florida, it’s been on my mind,” Mills said.
Nowicki looked at Prusa, a 3D printing company, for a face shield model to build and distribute in the area. What started out small has blossomed.
Nowicki said there are teachers at Jain Middle, Braden River Middle, Nolan Middle and Johnson Middle all helping. In total, there are about 10 aiding the effort, and Nowicki has checked out additional 3D printers.
“Every other day, someone’s, ‘Hey, I’ve got my printers checked out from work, I can help,’” Nowicki said.
He added, “Are we mass producing 50,000? No, but every little bit helps.”
