St. Petersburg College Humanities and Fine Arts Chair Jonathan Barnes is using 3D printing technology to create face shields for health care workers.
SPC leadership gave Barnes permission to bring home two printers from SPC’s Humanities and Fine Arts department. Since then his output has increased. Other people have offered up their printers for the cause, after seeing Barnes’ posts on social media.
“Right now, we can make six shields every four hours,” says Barnes. The story went out last week, and now he says, his story has gone viral.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in the United States, health care providers have run out of protective face masks creating a dire need.
So far, Barnes has donated more than 100 shields to doctors in Clearwater, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Ocala and Sarasota. Since the story received attention, he also has sent them out to Maryland, Texas, Orlando and Ohio.
“The doctor who picked them up yesterday was super excited because the supplies are incredibly limited,” Barnes says. “The feedback from all the doctors has been really positive.”
Barnes says he will continue to make and donate the shields as long as he has materials to do so. He says he has all the materials he needs now, but will keep TBBW updated if that changes.
“It seems like the right thing to do,” he said. “Those people are the front line heroes going into battle without proper equipment.”
