URI 3D prints face shields for healthcare workers

RHODE ISLAND (WLNE) – Faculty at the University of Rhode Island are using the school’s 3D printers to create personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers.

The university partnered with Brown University and RISD to print face shields.

The group of 70 volunteers is using six 3D printers, eight hours a day, to produce 60 shields a week.

Each face shield takes about two hours to print.

“Once they come off the printer, they’re fairly quick to assemble. Right now we’re using overhead transparencies– like old school projector transparencies as the actual face shield. That gets attached on and an elastic strap gets put on the back,” said Erika Uzmann, the manager of scholarly technologies at URI.

The group is planning on crowd funding to raise money to offset the costs of production.