College manufacturing protective masks calls upon others to follow their example
A COLLEGE producing vital protection equipment for frontline healthcare workers with 3D printers, laser cutters and rapid prototyping machinery is urging others to do the same.
Using its business support and product design centres, North West College produced 150 face guards over two days.
They have also collected Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) from various other departments within the college for distribution to hospitals, care facilities and frontline workers.
Philip Devlin from the college’s Product Design Centre said that the number of face guards being able to be produced per day increased from under 10 on
Monday to over 100 on Friday, by switching from 3D printing technology to laser cutting, optimising the speed at which the guards can be manufactured.
He said: “We produced some of these prototypes and provided them to local Health Trusts to get feedback from their clinicians.
“There was no point in us making these guards if they were not going to meet the healthcare needs from a protective perspective and we were delighted when we received positive feedback which inspired us to try and support more frontline workers.
“Since we began looking at the needs of the health and care sectors, we have seen the frontline workers crying out for face guards and we are acutely aware that, given our facilities, there are still only so many guards that we can manufacture per day. This is why we are encouraging those with the resources to produce to do so.
“It might only be 10 face guards that you can produce but if that prevents 10 people from getting this deadly virus it will have been worthwhile.”