De Beers Group’s Institute of Diamonds project to use 3D printers to produce 1,300 face shields for health-workers in the UK is coming to a natural end.
With personal orders fulfilled and the NHS now able to supply their own PPE, the project launched by the R&D team in Maidenhead to print and ship facemasks has been a poignant experience for the team involved.
Production Manager Patryk Fiedotow explains, ‘For me personally the visor building project was a deeply moving experience the likes of which I have never come across before. Aside from the obvious benefit of potentially protecting the lives of frontline care workers and their patients, I will take away two things that have left a mark. The first is our staff. Leading up to the project really kicking off, there was this desperate desire to help. People were sending in suggestions, volunteering to help, searching very hard to see what could be done. Once we got started, there was no shortage of volunteers to help source materials, build the visors and make deliveries.
“The other thing that will stay with me for a very long time is the feedback we got from the recipients. The appreciation expressed by them, knowing the hardships that they’ve had to endure, has left all of us humbled and grateful, not to mention a bit emotional.”
Wendy Coombs, our Purchasing and Shipping Administrator in charge of supplying the materials for printing, agreed. “To hear a friend who works at a hospital cry when offered these masks has probably been the most emotional experience for me in the last few weeks.”
For Senior Engineering Technician Andy Franks, who initiated the project, it’s also been a memorable experience. “It’s been great to see how the company has come together in this time of crisis, as well as exciting to gain an insight into how much the 3D printing community can achieve when united by the intention to create positive change.” And his final words about the project? “Thank you to the NHS.”