A Burnett Secondary student has been getting up twice a night to reload his two 3D printers, maximizing their productivity to create face shields for doctors fighting the battle of COVID-19 across the continent.
Sean Uy’s face shields have reached the North American epicentre of the health crisis in New York City, but they have also been received in hospitals in Los Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento, Houston and Dallas.
On Monday, he was shipping three boxes to Marysville, Calif., Charlottesville, N.C., and Memphis, Tenn.
Uy said, it’s an “amazing feeling” to help out with the capacity he has in his home – his two 3D printers – during a global pandemic.
“It’s really rewarding to know stuff that you built in your house – for me, it’s in my shed – is going to New York and there are doctors using it while treating patients,” Uy said.
So far, he has made about 200 face shields and he’s able to make about 20 to 22 every day.
Uy – who is in Grade 12 - started making the shields after he heard from his uncle, who works as a doctor in the U.S., about a shortage of personal protective equipment.
The face shields are made from old overhead acetate sheets – he started making them with ones he had at home and then his tech teacher at Burnett found some more.
Later, he went with his father to find better quality plastic, and when friends and family heard about his project, they started donating money.
Local sponsors have also stepped up to help procure the material needed to make them.
Uy has also connected with the 3D printing community, through a Facebook groupchat called “Open Source COVID-19 Medical Supplies” where they share ideas on how to help out during the pandemic.
“It’s such an amazing community,” he said.
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