April 22, 2020 -- Heights High engineering teachers Cassie Budin and Greg Nachman are printing the components of face shields and have pulled together a team of more than 20 community members to help. And, they are teaching from home and caring for their own families.

The project is in response to a nationwide shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both teachers have their classroom 3-D printers at home and are creating the head band that attaches to the clear plastic front piece. An elastic band attaches the head band to the worker's head.

It took several weeks, but the production is about to begin and Mr. Nachman estimates that they will produce about 100 masks a week.

The face shields will be used by specific school district employees and several essential workers in the Heights area who have requested face shields. They also plan to donate the face shields to Cuyahoga County Department of Health for distribution to health care workers. 

One component has been difficult to find - elastic for the head strap. The teachers need more elastic to meet local needs, If anyone has elastic to donate, please e-mail them at [email protected] or [email protected].

Five 3-D printers (four from Heights High) and more than 20 volunteers are supporting the effort by supplying materials, contributing design support and assembling the components. Besides Ms. Budin and Mr. Nachman, community member Tom DiQuattro is using his printer to make headbands. 

Other volunteers include engineering students and their families and other teachers who are assembling the components. Many teachers and community members have donated the plastic front piece for shields - teachers often have boxes of unused transparency sheets that were once used with overhead projectors.

Community members have donated many yards of elastic, and University Heights citizen Ida Walker is using her expert sewing skills to create the stretch bands. Allen Wilkinson, Heights High robotics team volunteer, and other citizens are helping with the design and a few local companies donated materials and are also helping with the design.

Mr. Nachman was inspired to spearhead this project when he was in the hospital with his premature baby. “I noticed that the nurses did not have face protection. After a little research, I contacted Cassie and Allen and we developed a design and a plan.”  

 

He presented the plan to Heights High principal Byron Hopkins and received his approval. Now the project is a community effort.

“This is what engineering is all about,” said Ms. Budin. “Seeing a problem or a need and figuring out how to fill that need or fix that problem. Engineering is also very collaborative and Greg has done a great job creating a collaborative team in the CHUH community. The community has taken to heart the ‘we are all in this together’ attitude. It makes me very proud and happy to be part of Tiger Nation,” she continued.

Mr. Nachman noted that he is very grateful to his wife for supporting this project.