Two design and technologyh teachers are leading the charge to protect community workers by 3D printing ‘vital’ protective visors.
Beverly Maloney, and her husband Aidan, from Hadleigh, have set out to use their design skills to help people in their home town who are assisting those in need during the coronavirus outbreak.
With both their schools closed, the pair set out to use a home based 3D printer, and blueprints made public by designers in Sweden, to produce protective gear.
Mrs Maloney, who works at Royal Hospital School (RHS), said: “We just wanted to help people who are out there doing jobs for others in Hadleigh and the best way for us to do that is to provide them with protective equipment to do things safely.
“These visors can be vital for people who are at risk at work.
“We’ve just given 25 visors out to a group of people in Hadleigh who are out helping others with their shopping or taking them out.
“We’ve also sent out around 105 to other key places in Hadleigh that need more protective gear.
“It’s important to say that these visors haven’t been medically tested or anything, but people have said they are better than nothing.”
Since starting to print the visors, Mr and Mrs Maloney have been joined by a number of other members of the public using their own 3D printers to help out.
It is hoped that together they can continue providing the protective gear for community helpers. However, the teachers have had to halt their work for the time being due to a fault with the heating element in their 3D printer.
“We’ve had the printer going for almost 100 hours straight, so it been doing a lot of work,” Mrs Maloney added.
“It’s great to see others getting involved as well. What stated as the two of us just trying to help has almost developed into this little group within such a massive number of helpers nationally.”
Both RHS and Manningtree High School, where Mr Maloney works, are also using specialised equipment, such as 3D printers and laser cutting machines, to produce visors.
Kesgrave High School is also using their DT equipment to make PPE equipment and the University of Suffolk is also hoping to help.
Workers from Adastral Park are also helping to produce PPE alongside their regional partners.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here