Via the Alectra Centre for Research, Innovation and Commercialization (C-RIC), the Research and Innovation team at Georgian College is responding to the
community’s need for medical face shields and other components. Until Ontario’s manufacturers can retool and fill demand, small fabrication shops like the C-RIC are filling the gap for this kind of medical equipment, currently in short supply due to the COVID-19 crisis.
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"We had some PET/mylar in stock, enough to produce about 700 face shields. We ordered more immediately while also reaching out, with the help of Georgian’s Advancement Office, to local manufacturers to source more."
Our Applied Research team, led by Dr. Mira Ray, responded to an immediate need for face shields by Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH). Andrew Cywink,
Technologist, coordinated the technical specifications and manufacturing protocols, aided by Jared Bergsma a co-op student who developed the CAD
drawings. The team modified the face shield design to suit RVH’s specifications. Virginia Barlow, Makerspace Coordinator, helped source open-source design files for other parts that could be 3D-printed.
Andrew Cywink, a Research and Innovation Technologist at Georgian College wears one of the single-use face shields he helped create.
Mira helped us stay closely connected to RVH so that we were producing only the face shields they needed. As it turned out, they had plenty of the headpieces that hold the face shields but not the clear mylar shields that provide the barrier protection.
After CTV published a story about our response to RVH, other medical centres reached out to see if we could supply them with face shields too. Until larger manufactures can fill the demand, Georgian is proud to help. We have enough raw material to make more than 10,000 face shields. These are being shipped to RVH as well as medical units in Orillia, Midland, Alliston and several smaller clinics across the region.
STay up to date on the changing face of business
Andrew, Jared and now three more Student Researchers - Connor Macinnis, Jack VanEgdom and Nick Noseworthy - are busy taking turns each day cutting shields with our laser cutter and 3D-printing headband components that are needed by some of the smaller medical centres. I’m so proud of our team. It has been exciting and humbling to watch how the community rallies around a challenge like this to help our front-line medical personnel.
All around the world the maker-community is responding in a similar fashion, fabricating critical equipment and saving lives in the process. We’re living in the time of the maker. We’re truly lucky to have this kind of fabrication technology that only a few years ago was unheard of – anyone can download a design and produce a product overnight. How powerful is that?
Watch for more from our team in the coming weeks.
Connor Macinnis – demonstrating a face shield manufactured in the C-RIC using 3D-printing and laser cutting technologies.
About the contributor
Dr.Jamie Doran
Dr.Doran draws on nearly twenty years of unique experiences spanning scientific research, innovation & entrepreneurship, space science, teaching & education, grant writing, business investment, and strategy development & implementation. He also sits on the Board of Directors at the Sandbox Centre in Barrie,ON.
He lives and breathes research, innovation and entrepreneurship. Jamie has helped design innovation clusters/centres across Ontario and has created some of the most successful business support programs for start-ups and medium-sized companies in his time. Currently he is the Executive Director, Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario, Canada