SUNY Albany Students and Staff Use 3D Printers to Help Build Face Shields

State University of New York at Albany students and staff are helping to address the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic by building face shields with the aid of 3D printers.

Footage recorded by Karla Cote on April 20 features interviews with those who are creating face shields for health care workers. A demonstration of how the shields are made can also be seen in the video.

The initiative has been organized by the University’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The project now has about 50 volunteers working to produce face shields, according to Cote.

Face shields built as part of the project have been supplied to health care workers at the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center and at various testing sites, Muckell says in the video.

At least 23 printers are in operation, and hundreds of shields have been assembled, Muckell says.

At least 257,246 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in New York state and 15,302 people have died as of April 23. Credit: Karla Cote via Storyful