What to do if there is a lack of protective equipment against the corona virus in hospitals and doctors’ surgeries? Just print it yourself! Jäger Gummi und Kunststoff GmbH immediately followed a call from the Hanover-based initiative “MakerMask” to print components for protective masks in order to protect medical personnel from droplet infections.
Since April, the Product and Process Development Department (PPE) has been using the 3D printer to produce free holders for more than 100 faceshields. With these faceshields, the “MakerMask” project group wants to counter the scarce masks and protective equipment in hospitals with a quick solution in times of the COVID 19 pandemic.
The initiative, which was set up by students and employees of Leibniz Universität Hannover, is coordinated by the Mechatronics Center Hannover (MZH), which also involves regional companies in the action. “MakerMask” works on a donation basis and can therefore distribute the makeshift equipment free of charge to clinics and doctors in private practice. The student initiative for social projects Enactus Hannover e.V. collects donations for the project, for example to pay for the materials.
In order to guarantee a high-quality component, the employees in the PPE department of Jäger Gummi und Kunststoff print each visor holder individually on the 3D printer. The 3D printer needs just under four hours to produce a holder of the appropriate quality from the plastic PETG. The design is specified by the project group to ensure that everyone complies with the same standards.
With the help of the instant messaging services Telegram and Discord, all participants of “MakerMask” exchange their experiences and can notify the organizers about already printed parts for pickup. Students from Hanover pick up the mounts from Jäger Gummi und Kunststoff and mount visors and rubber bands on them – in this way, in a division of labour, many face shields are created to protect hospital staff in Hanover.
MZH Managing Director Marc Warnecke emphasizes that more volunteers are still needed for the project. In addition to face shields, work is currently underway to develop a mouth-nose mask from the 3D printer. Anyone who would like to get involved can contact him here.
You would like to support “MakerMask” financially? On the website of the initiative Enactus you can donate money online.
Current information about “MakerMask”:
Jäger Gummi und Kunststoff GmbH
Lohweg 1
30559 Hanover (Germany)
Tel. +49 511 – 53580
Fax +49 511 – 553394
