Terex Utilities is helping Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) provide face shields in the effort to fight Covid-19. Terex Utilities is using its 3D printer to provide parts for the face shields.
Terex Utilities is joining two other companies and more than a dozen individuals to help LATI with the project, which is being led by the Electronic Systems Technology and Robotics departments.
With students sent home to work remotely, the technical institute’s 30 3D printers were sitting idle, which gave Brooks Jacobsen, department supervisor for Electronics Systems Technology and Robotics at LATI, the idea. To date, about 800 face shields and 100 masks have been distributed to health care providers in South Dakota and Minnesota, according to Terex Utilities.
“We have had tremendous community support for the effort,” Jacobsen said in a prepared statement. “In addition to those using their 3D printers, we have also had material donated. It’s been a good thing.”
Terex Utilities initially started printing mask parts but switched to printing the bands needed for the face shields, as there was higher demand for that to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus. With its in-house 3D printer, Terex Utilities can produce eight bands every 20 hours, and is running the printer 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Because it takes up to 13 hours to print four face shield bands, they sent a request out to local businesses to lend a hand by printing parts needed for a completed shield,” said Dan Brenden, director of engineering for Terex Utilities, in a statement.
“During times of crisis, it is especially important to support the needs of our local communities, as well as those of our customers, said Joe Caywood, director of marketing, in a statement. “We are glad we could contribute a small part to the effort to produce the face shield bands needed by health care professionals near and far.”
Source: constructionequipment.com
