St. Louis, MO (KMOX) - Monday on KMOX, we told you about a St. Louis furniture fabricator shifting production to make protective gear for medical workers.
Related: St. Louis furniture maker is building face shields for nurses amid virus pandemic
Now we've learned a local high school has joined him in the effort.
A parent at Incarnate Word Academy High School heard about the project and immediately thought about the school's brand new STEM lab -- complete with 3D printers.
Thanks to a parent, Mr Meyer & Mr Gundy, we are using our CCVI 150 STEM Lab to make parts for new facemasks which will go directly to Barnes Hospital + others as needed. These masks allow for reusable & sterile plastic that will be sent through a disinfectant chamber after use. pic.twitter.com/CQwhoLKQe7
— IWA_Academics (@AcademicsIwa) March 31, 2020Principal Maureen Lovette says the school's director of technology and one of its science teachers agreed the lab is well-positioned to help make protective face shields.
"They reached out to the gentleman who has the design company and said 'what are the specs, what are the measurements and what do we need to do?' And he gave them the measurements and how it should be made and all of the requirements of carefully how they needed to make this," Lovette says.
That includes how to handle the material to avoid contamination.
Related: WATCH: Pro athletes send videos to support St. Louis student fighting off COVID-19
Lovette says the technology director and teacher are splitting shifts at the Catholic girls' high school. It takes about two hours to make a shield. They made 14 the first day -- those are going to Barnes Jewish Hospital. They hope to make 50 by the end of the week. The shields can be disinfected and reused.
Lovette says they've emailed their high schoolers telling them about the project, "We have a problem in our world, and we continue to talk about that about every day at Incarnate, it's called a STEM mindset. There's a problem that's given to us, so let's think about, brainstorm, collaborate, communicate and critically think and be creative in that thinking for what we can do to solve that problem."
@ 2020 KMOX (Entercom). All rights reserved.
