PPE 3D printed for PNG

CSR has several meanings. At the UTS ProtoSpace this autumn it is an anagram for COVID-19 Student Responders (CSR), who have demonstrated and developed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by 3D printing over 300 much-needed face shields for medical personnel in Papua New Guinea.

ProtoSpace interns Isaac Garcia and Stuart Kirkwood set out this semester to engage more users of UTS ProtoSpace and bring ideas to prototype/proof of concept.

ProtoSpace is an additive and advanced manufacturing (often referred to as 3D printing) facility at UTS with Australia’s largest collection of additive manufacturing technologies. University students, staff, and industry can work with the facility’s technical staff to develop and refine designs for printing using the most suitable equipment and materials.

With the onset of remote teaching and learning, Isaac says a large Teams group of staff and students came together, discussing ways the suite of 3D printers could be used during the pandemic to support, and contribute to, the community.

We had a number of channels for people to explore different types of personal protective equipment (PPE) before settling on face shields, as this is an example of the capability of 3D printing and of our capacity to achieve a quick response.

Production of 300 headsets began, using an open-sourced design, and tested 24/7 using the state of the art equipment at ProtoSpace.  Team CSR wanted a product with simple construction that is easy to assemble and meets all Australia health regulations for PPE.

Their design has three components: a headband printed on site, an elastic band at the rear to secure it, and plastic sheets cut to size and attached to the headband for full-face protection, says Isaac of the only major manual labour.  

Once the headsets were trimmed, the plastic was attached by punching holes - this was the most laborious part as it had to be done by hand.

With Australian health authorities responding to the local need for PPE, CSR looked to donate their stock, and a key role for Stuart was to find a suitable organisation for donation.

Research identified Australian Doctors International (ADI) an established Australian NGO with 20 years’ experience providing assistance in PNG.  ADI Program Officer Mark Newcombe explains how, as the coronavirus has spread, ADI has been procuring relevant equipment to meet the increasing local need for its volunteers working in three provinces of PNG.

We have been able to locate hand sanitisers, face masks, gowns, goggles, gloves – but could not find face shields anywhere, so when Stuart contacted us to consider a donation we were delighted.

ADI has taken delivery of the shields and Mark says will now use its connections throughout PNG to distribute them where need is highest.

We were really impressed with the quality, well designed and well made. The face shield obviously delivers protection for the user, but it also extends the life span of face masks, which is important for any equipment in remote and hard to reach areas.

UTS has provided us with an essential product we just couldn’t buy.

With the first 300+ en route (Stuart has printed an additional 47 shields from his home in Adelaide while he waits out campus closure), the CSR team is now looking to build on its experience and with UTS support will continue to identify needs, and use ProtoSpace facilities for PPE and any other items which can be developed to need emerging needs. 

The diverse machinery can manufacture experimental models from a vast selection of materials to achieve specific properties, providing a gateway for anyone with a good idea to explore and engage in projects for new applications areas, transformative design, materials sciences and electronics manufacturing.