‘American ingenuity’
Berks 3D printers humming, creating face shields by thousands for those who ask
It all started with an email.
With COVID-19 spreading across the U.S., Ellen Albright, director of talent and workforce at the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, reached out to some of her contacts in Berks County’s scientific research and manufacturing community. One of those contacts was Adelle Schade, director of the new Albright College Science Research Institute.
Schade wrote back, saying that she had seen news reports about a shortage of personal protective equipment. Perhaps, she wrote, 3D printers could be used to craft something like face shields. She said it’s something maybe students could look into in the future.
“We were just brainstorming,” Schade said.
As the 3D-printing idea got batted around, it quickly became evident that it wasn’t just something for down the road. An ad hoc group was formed to take the lead, and the Berks PPE Resource Network was born.
“We began looking into it and one thing led to another,” Schade said. “Seven days after that email we had 1,800 face shields ready to go to 62 different organizations. It’s unbelievable.”
The face shield project has been going on for just about two weeks now. Through the guidance of Albright and Schade, it has taken off like wildfire.
All the colleges and school districts in the county have chipped in. So have the Berks County Intermediate Unit and public libraries. Individuals have jumped on board, too, in a big way, with 72 of them now 3D printing for the Berks PPE Resource Network.
“We have parents and grandparents, students are
working with their moms and dads,” Schade said. “It’s like this big manufacturing organization. This is American ingenuity at its best.
“Berks has always been a big manufacturing area, we just turned it so we’re manufacturing from our houses.”
Albright said the way the network has taken off is mind-blowing.
“The response time from everyone has just been amazing to watch,” she said.
Albright said all the individual 3D printers have been working in concert.
There’s no red tape, she said, and everyone has been open to new ideas. There’s even been a Facebook page started for people to share tips, videos and new designs.
“I’m speechless,” Schade said about the way people stepped up to help. “I cannot believe what has happened in a little over a week. The people that are volunteering, they’re just volunteering their time at home. Some are printing 24 hours a day at home.
“They’re just so dedicated to helping the people in this county.”
The product the network has been producing is plastic face shields.
The 3D printers create the band that wraps around a person’s head and holds the clear shield. Old transparency sheets like the ones used on an overhead projector are serving as those shields. They’ve been donated by schools.
“We’re not producing things that are going into surgery,” Schade said. “We’re trying to make something that can get people by until the big companies can move in. We’re like the Band-aid for now.”
Schade said the shields, which are FDA-compliant, are going to places like police departments, grocery stores and retirement homes.
Last Friday, 200 shields were handed out. Wednesday, another 2,100 were given away.
In all, Schade said, the network has requests for 4,500.
“There’s definitely a need,” she said.
Pickup spot
Late Wednesday morning, cars, vans and SUVs slowly made their way, one by one, through the parking lot at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts at Second and Washington streets. Each stopped at a white canopy where plastic bags filled with the assembled 3D-printed shields were loaded into each vehicle.
Kay Fasnacht, transportation manager at The Highlands at Wyomissing, said the equipment was much-needed.
“I know the Highlands’ staff is very appreciative,” she said moments after an order of masks was loaded into her minivan. “Everybody wants it.”
Fasnacht said workers at the retirement community have been finding protective gear harder to acquire as the pandemic stretches on.
Kirk Litzenberger, deputy emergency coordinator for the Reading Fire Department, stopped by the GoggleWorks on Wednesday to pick up shields for city firefighters. He said it’s all about safety.
“We try everything we can to provide protection for our guys,” he said.
The idea that the equipment was being provided by people volunteering their time to help out those on the front lines of the coronavirus fight is touching, Litzenberger said.
“It does mean a lot,” he said. “I think it’s great American ingenuity.”
Others take notice
The Berks PPE Resource Network has been such a rapid success it’s already getting attention from beyond Berks. It’s been contacted by organizations from eight counties, including two in New Jersey, looking for tips on how it was all pulled together.
Albright held an online meeting through Zoom this week to share the network’s methods.
Albright said the Chamber Alliance has always supported the entrepreneurial system in Berks, but the success of the network has shown the real potential that system has.
“This has taken entrepreneurship to a whole other level,” she said. “It’s inspiring to us to see what comes next when all of this settles down. If this is doable, how do we leverage this in the future?
“It’s exciting to watch all of this evolve with very little resources.”
A handful of local organizations have helped to fill that resource gap.
Schade said the Berks County Community Foundation, Berks Alliance and Friends of the Reading Hospital each have provided support to the network.