On April 8 Milligan College’s senior engineering students were recognized by the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) for designing and manufacturing face shields for front-line medical providers.
Landon Holbrook, assistant professor of mechanical engineering with a doctorate in engineering, chose to utilize the college’s 3D printing abilities for producing face shields. “Out of gratefulness we began researching what needs were being faced and what resources we had to offer,” said Holbrook. “Face shields are important, printable and our friends asked for them.”
Face shields, according to Holbrook, save valuable resources by prolonging the supply of medical N95 masks. “Wearing face shields over your N95 mask can help reduce the number of N95 masks that need to be changed and prolong the use of this critical piece of personal protection equipment,” he said.
Designing and producing these masks, however, was no small feat, and teamwork was essential to this project. “Eleven senior engineering students were involved in research through information gathering, design reviews, and assessment,” Holbrook said.
Student input was invaluable to face shield designs too, with Holbrook stating, “One of the students relayed the needs of practicing nurses and was able to incorporate those needs into production.”
Shields have already been delivered to local healthcare facilities in Johnson City, with more being created daily according to Holbrook. “Shields have been sent to a clinic in Johnson City, a dentist who has been performing emergency surgeries, a hospital in Johnson City, a nursing facility in Johnson City and a medical facility about an hour west of Johnson City,” Holbrook said.
About 20 shields can be made each day on a single Ultimaker 3 operating for about 10 hours. Engineering senior Jay Wheeler, one of the aforementioned students working on this project, contributed by developing a clear face shield.
“I began trying to come up with an alternative solution to the face shields that could be made from household items,” said Wheeler. “At this moment there have been slightly more than 100 shields produced with the majority either already delivered or in the process of being transferred.”
The TICUA, an association that engages Tennessee’s private colleges and universities in collaborative, community-building work, recognized Milligan College Engineering for this collective, ongoing community service on April 8, 2020.
Headline photo: Buff shields for front-line, essential workers.