East Cobb Branch 3D Printing Shield Masks for Local Healthcare Units III

During this pandemic, the East Cobb Branch of AYLUS was quite involved in helping in the community. Activities that were done included donating masks and disinfecting products to local hospitals, as well as writing nice/encouraging cards to local senior centers. Lastly, they came up with the idea of 3-D printing face shields to give to those who were in need of face protection, including workers at libraries and hospitals.

My experience with 3-D printing was quite interesting.

When I was first given the printer, I’ll admit that I had little idea what I was doing. Even though I was given a bit of instruction, I felt like I was given too much information in too short of a time frame. I didn’t get to try anything hands-on, which is how I learn best. I had to get on a call with my friend Gary, who walked me through the entire process and gave me advice/tips. Once I caught on, the entire process was surprisingly easy. Most of the process was just adjusting the height of the nozzle and setting the printer to the right temperature each time. The rest was done by the printer.

In total, I was able to print 20 face shields over the course of a week. Each shield took around 1 hour and 15 minutes to print, and in between printing it took me about 15 minutes to get the face shield off, scrape off the excess print, and set up the printer for the next one.

I’m very grateful for this opportunity of 3-D printing; I felt that it was a good experience in 2 ways: I was able to learn a new skill, and more importantly I was able to help those who were in need of masks. It was a good learning experience for me because before this, I’ve never used or worked with a 3D printer before. Being able to learn a new skill and seeing how the printer worked for the first time was very interesting. Secondly, I was able to help those who were in need of protection during these tough times. Printing the face shields left a good feeling in my heart. I’m also very thankful that I was able to help others from the safety of my house.

Attendance: Brian Kuang (30 hrs), Eileen Zhang (42 hrs), Faith Huang(30 hrs), Jack Xu(40.5 hrs), Terrence Xia (30 hrs), Franklin Zhao(30 hrs), Susanna Huang (30 hrs)

Reported by Brian Kuang