Saratoga community briefs for the week of April 17

Local groups make face shields

Four Saratoga High School families are leading an effort to make 3D printed face shields for healthcare workers at Good Samaritan Hospital. Students in the group are on the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (MSET) at Saratoga High.

“Each print takes three hours,” reads a blog post from the group, “so our printers are really running round the clock.

“The biggest hurdle for us has been getting access to the right kind of supplies. While report covers are a good alternative, we need plastic.”

Some of this need was met by a group from Maker Nexus in Sunnyvale that is making face shields for Valley Medical Center.

“We requested a few laser cut plastic shields from them, and in exchange we gave them a couple sheets of uncut plastic that we just purchased,” reads the Saratogans’ blog. “This helped us get another batch of 32 face shields out to Good Samaritan.”

While the Sunnyvale Makers are trying to fulfill a request for 1,500 of face shields, the Saratoga group says it’s meeting all requests from Good Sam and expects to donate shields to El Camino Hospital as well.

“We have sent out a call out to all our MSET families who have the ability to 3D print at home to start printing,” reads the blog post. “They are currently delivering their prints to Maker Nexus in Sunnyvale.”

The Saratoga group is looking for donations of 1-inch buttonhole or braided elastic or 1-inch velcro rolls. To donate same, email shebagarg@gmail.com.