Press release from College of the Redwoods:

In an effort to ease the burden on the local health care community, CR Manufacturing Technology professor Mike Peterson has started producing plastic visors for face shields on the college’s Stratasys 3D Printer.

CR Manufacturing Technology professor Mike Peterson.

After Stratasys, one of the largest 3D Printer companies in the word, started to receive orders from hospitals across the country for face shields, they released the specifications for the visors and asked anyone or any institution with a compatible printer to help answer the call. CR received the same request for printed face shields from Mad River Hospital.

In addition to the four per day they plan to print in the manufacturing lab, the college had seven suitable shields from the woodshop and the welding lab on hand that they donated to the hospital. CR’s Dean of Career Education, Kerry Mayer, noted “Even though the 3D printing process is a slow one, we’re happy to be able to provide those four extra shields per day in support of our health care workers who are putting so much on the line to take care of our community.”

In response to a request from St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka, CR’s Dental Assisting Program has also donated personal protective equipment and supplies to the hospital, in an effort to help ensure that medical personnel on the front lines combatting Coronavirus in the local community have the supplies necessary to keep them safe.

The donated supplies include hair-nets, masks, disinfectant, hand-sanitizer, and 33 boxes of nitrile examination gloves.

“I hope that these supplies are put to good use in our local community,” said CR Dental Assisting professor Hillary Reed.