Volunteers from the Faculty of Physics produced 10 thousand face shields 3D printed over 2 months and donated them to 200 medical institutions from all over Poland.

“Materiały dla Medyków” was a spontaneous action of the University of Warsaw Faculty of Physics aimed at providing medical staff in Poland with needed personal protective equipment, namely face shields. It was a response to those doctors and medical professionals who have direct contact with people infected by the novel coronavirus. Volunteers in Makerspace at UW decided to support medical institutions in the country when it was most needed.

“The reason why we began our initiative was a real need to equip medical staff with necessary personal protective equipment. Without it their heroic work would have been hazardous to their health. We knew from the beginning that time plays a key role,” says Prof. Andrzej Wysmołek from the UW Faculty of Physics who coordinated the undertaking.

In total, 10 330 face shields were printed using 20 3D printers. The project has been developing dynamically. The UW team started with printing several dozen per day. However, thanks to the commitment of 42 volunteers (employees, students and doctoral candidates), several partners and ca. 200 donors supporting the initiative, the production could increase to 320 pieces per day.

Face shields are in use by over 200 medical institutions across the country, including hospitals, medical centres or nursing homes. The UW Faculty of Physics donated them to those institutions for free.

Several companies supported the action, e.g.  Aviva, Lenovo Polska, InPost, Uber, Grupa Pracuj, Wallstory, Domino’s Pizza, Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (MCPP), Danje Polymer. Everyone, however, could donate money or buy materials used in the production.

The project was also supported by other people and units from the University of Warsaw, including the Institute of Archeology, University of Warsaw Incubator and the University of Warsaw Foundation.