Stratasys Ltd. has announced a global mobilization of the company’s 3D printing resources and expertise to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, spanning its Stratasys, GrabCAD, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, and partner network with donated printing capacity across all regions. The initial focus is on providing thousands of disposable face shields for use by medical personnel.
In the U.S. Stratasys has set an initial goal of producing 5,000 face shields by March 27 at no cost to the recipients. This includes both a 3D-printed frame and a clear plastic shield that covers the entire face. The company will have the ability to scale to an even faster rate of production.
Any 3D printing shop in the U.S. that wishes to help print plastic frames can fill out an online form to be invited to join the effort. The company is will be posting the full face shield printing and assembly instructions on its COVID-19 response page.
One of the world’s top hospitals has told Stratasys that it uses 1,530 disposable face shields every week, even without the surge created by COVID-19, and is down to six days’ inventory on hand with the pandemic still building momentum. Stratasys said medical technology leader Medtronic and Minneapolis-based Dunwoody College of Technology will provide support for the plastic shield material.
Stratasys has scores of professional 3D printers available to apply to the challenge of producing shields at scale, particularly across its Stratasys Direct Manufacturing facilities, which are based in Eden Prairie, Minn.; in and around Austin, Texas; and Valencia, Calif. A number of other large manufacturers and educational institutions with production-grade 3D printers have donated their capacity to help. These include Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Queensborough Community College in New York City, and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.
The company also is planning to respond to the crisis in additional ways. An initiative led by anesthesiology residents of Massachusetts General Hospital called the CoVent-19 Challenge is planning to ask engineers and designers to help develop a new, rapidly deployable ventilator and other innovative solutions to the ventilator shortage, and Stratasys plans to support the challenge and promote it via its GrabCAD community of more than 7 million professional designers, engineers, manufacturers, and students.
