The campus may have closed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but students, faculty and volunteers at Montclair State’s MIX Lab (which boasts 48 3D printers) joined forces with Montclair Design Week to respond to the dire need for PPE (personal protective equipment) and other medical supplies in New York and New Jersey. In one month, more than 22,885 pieces of gear were designed, assembled and donated to over a dozen medical facilities by a team consisting of students, faculty and volunteers.
“These volunteers are making an admirable contribution to the solutions necessary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mimi Feliciano, founder and CEO of FEM Real Estate in Montville and advisory board member of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the university, where the MIX Lab is housed. The MIX Lab facility allows students and community members to work together to solve problems using innovation and 3D printing.
The broad initiative, known as the “Shield Our Heroes” campaign, began in early April and also includes William Paterson University. The team works closely with medical professionals to determine shifting needs. At press time, the group planned to continue their efforts until late May. The recipients of PPE donations include Hackensack Meridian Health in Montclair and Hackensack, University Hospital Newark, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, East Orange General Hospital, Bayonne Medical Center and all of the hospitals in the St. Barnabas chain.
Although the MIX Lab team began producing about 350 face shields a day on 3D printers, they soon realized it was an inefficient and costly method for meeting the growing demand. They quickly shifted gears and freed up 3D printers to make specialty items such as mask straps and ventilator splitters. As a result, face shields are assembled manually and require less 3D printing, according to Iain Kerr, co-director of the MIX Lab. Kerr, along with fellow faculty member Jason Frasca, oversees the project.
“This is a fast-moving ecosystem with discoveries, changes and innovations occurring every day. What you were doing or preparing for yesterday will be different from what you need tomorrow,” said Kerr. “We’ve been flexible and nimble and not fixed on any one design or any one product.”
On a daily basis, an assembly line of volunteers and students work in shifts to produce over 1,000 shields per day, Kerr said. Their goal is to deliver 30,000 face shields to those in need.
