Coronavirus: Stony Brook's 3D Printers Make Protective Equipment

STONY BROOK, NY — Stony Brook University's iCREATE lab has stepped up to help regarding the potential shortage of personal protective equipment for local hospital personnel and testing site staff as New York battles the new coronavirus. The lab is using 3-D printers to manufacture face shields for Stony Brook University Hospital. As of Monday afternoon, there are no plans to roll out the equipment anywhere else.

The face shields are medically compliant and have been reviewed by Stony Brook University Hospital staff, Charlie McMahon, interim senior vice president and enterprise chief information officer for Stony Brook University, explained.

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Additionally, the team at iCREATE designed certain parts of these face shields to be replaceable so medical personnel can change them out, allowing for a more sanitized product. With current supplies, iCREATE intends to make 800 face shields, and is in the process of procuring enough supplies to make up to 5,000 products.

"We are doing something positive to protect the health of the medical professionals that are helping the community," McMahon said in a news release. "Being able to be a part of keeping our medical professionals safer is a really good feeling."

iCREATE, a program under the Division of Information Technology at Stony Brook University, supports innovative technologies within the university's Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) to provide a hands-on environment of collaborative work in order to spark creativity, innovation, and to ultimately redefine technological boundaries, engagement, creation, and innovation.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Suffolk County hit 1,000 as of Monday afternoon. The county is racing to secure hospital beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment. Additionally, a new collection drive launched Monday for masks, gloves, gowns and other supplies.

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