When three Frontier Charter School staff members learned that a shortage of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) existed at area hospitals, they put their creative thinking caps on and began to utilize the school’s 3D printers to manufacture and assemble face shields.

Azat Ovezov, director of Science Curriculum, Shukru Kilic, engineering teacher, and Islam Kamilov, computer instructor, continue to work remotely in their homes to meet the ongoing need for face shields.

The school has been working with Truman Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital to donate these shields to front line workers tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “Once the pandemic started, we saw a shortage for personal protective equipment, so we wanted to help our community,” said Kilic. “We formed a small team and started making 3D printed face shields. For us, it means giving back to the community.”

Each shield takes about four hours to print and assemble and costs around $1.00 in materials. 

To date, nearly 60 shields have been donated from the effort. The project will continue until there is no longer a high demand for special PPE equipment.

To donate toward a face shield, please visit the link here.